Lineage
by bluejaygal
Summary: They have always walked the line between two sides of the law, but when Sonny's enemies come after the women they love, how will Dante and Michael react?  Lante-centric with Michael/Abby.
1. Chapter 1

_This story takes place in the future. It will be Lante centric with some Michael/Abby, as well. The only real back story that won't be explained is that Brenda's child is not still alive. Everything else should be covered. Please read and review – this is my first story in awhile and I want to know if it's worth keeping up with it._

_**November 2011**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

The smell of French toast crashed into me as the shrill cry of my alarm clock startled me out of my sleep. Without opening my eyes, I slapped my hand to my left, searching for the snooze button. It was a very important day – a day that I could not oversleep. But I felt like I had not slept in weeks, and Dante's bed was far too comfortable to vacate so quickly.

"Hey sleepy head," his voice called from the kitchen, "You're missing that alarm clock by about two feet, and if you're not careful, you're going to break the frame around that gorgeous picture of my girlfriend."

"A little help here?" I whined, still refusing to open my eyes and turn off the alarm clock. "I feel like my head is going to explode."

I heard him set down some silverware on the table before his footsteps moved toward me. The bed sunk as he sat next to me, and soon his lips brushed against my forehead as the high pitched shriek of my alarm clock was cut off.

"Still no fever," he whispered, running his fingers through my hair. "But maybe you should call Maxie and let her know you need an extra hour to swing by the hospital and get checked out."

"Something tells me that Maxie isn't going to take that so well on the biggest day of her career," I groaned, forcing my eyes open to meet his gaze. "Besides, there's no need to go to the hospital. I'm just fighting off a bug."

"It's actually kicking your ass," he corrected, "Two weeks isn't just fighting off a bug."

I sat up, masking the dizziness that overcame me. "Either way, it can at least wait until tomorrow. We are leaving for Manhattan in four hours. There's still a lot to take care of, mainly calming Maxie down. Today is…"

"The defining point in her new career as an editor for _Crimson…_ trust me, she's informed everyone."

"Exactly, and I would be the world's worst first assistant if I bailed on her," I groaned, finally starting to feel balanced. "Plus Abby just started last week. I don't think it's fair for me to make her go in and handle the hell that will be Maxie's nerves."

I threw in a small pout to convince him. Sure, what I was saying about Maxie, Abby and work was all legitimate. But even more important was the fact that I hated going to see doctors. I had managed to create a system where my one year checkups always got stretched to eighteen months, a feat I was damned proud to own.

"If you're not feeling better tomorrow morning, I'm driving you there first thing," he started, running the pads of his fingers along my palm. He knew he had me with that gesture.

"Fine," I agreed, leaning forward and giving him a soft kiss to symbolize the end of our negotiation.

"I wasn't done with my stipulations," he whispered against my lips. "You are going to eat breakfast this morning before you leave."

"I don't know if I'll have ti-"

"Lu," he asserted firmly. "Not up for negotiation. I told Michael and Abby to stop by, too. You can spare twenty minutes to eat, especially since we both know that you won't be doing much more of it today. Don't make me negotiate harder. Just get in the shower and I'll finish cooking."

Twenty five minutes later, I came out of the bathroom ready to go. I was grateful that we would be spending the majority of the day traveling and doing grunt work, so I was able to bypass putting on makeup and pull my hair into a loose ponytail for the time being. As much as I would didn't want to admit it to Dante, I still felt awful.

"Thank God for sweatpants," Abby remarked about my attire when I got to the kitchen table. I was relieved to see that she had followed my line of thinking, "I only wish that these would be appropriate for the gala tonight."

"Who says they can't be when you wear them so well?" Michael flirted, leaning in to kiss his girlfriend.

I sat down at the table and grinned. It was so great to see Michael finally being lighthearted. He and Abby had a rocky start, but they were so grounded with one another that it made all of the adversity they went through seem irrelevant. Michael's parole was about to be lifted in two months, so when he started to want Abby to stay over, Dante suggested he rent the apartment across the hall. It was a great situation, and Michael made a much better neighbor than that apartment's previous tenant.

"Okay, food's done," Dante cleared his throat, snaking his arm between Michael and Abby to set a plate of French toast on the table – a gesture that was not lost on Michael.

"Don't mind my brother," he instructed Abby, "He just gets uptight when he's not the one making out at the table."

"Excuse me, but my ma made a hard and fast rule that when the food is at the table, the only things touching your lips should be silverware and the food," Dante quipped.

"We'll tone it down," Abby smirked, taking some food and putting it on her plate. "Thanks for breakfast, Dante. This will probably be the only chance we get to sit down and eat all day."

"So you're telling me that Dante and I are driving all the way to Manhattan to sit at the Crimson table and eat without our dates?" Michael questioned, also digging into the food and passing the plate along to me. I felt queasy just looking at the decadent slices of toast in front of me, but knew that Dante was in full-blown protective mode. If I didn't force down some food, he would never let me avoid the doctor for one more day.

"No, we'll be sitting with you, but I doubt I'll be able to relax enough to eat. I definitely picked the wrong few weeks to start working for Maxie. The poor woman is balancing a new job and a new engagement. No wonder she's so demanding."

"That's just Maxie," Dante explained, taking a seat next to me. I noticed him eyeing my plate closely, as if he was ready to declare at any moment that I was too sick to work. "Be grateful she has a fiancé to go home to every night. Connie was never as low maintenance after hours as Maxie has been. I have actually spent three nights in a row without competing with the phone for Lulu's full attention."

I was just about to force the second bite of breakfast into my mouth when said phone started buzzing. Grateful for the distraction from eating, I got up from my seat and grabbed my purse from the coffee table. Abby's phone hummed seconds after mine. It was obviously Maxie.

"Mornings, however, are a totally different story," Dante sighed from behind me.

I looked at the text message from my boss and best friend and swore under my breath. If Maxie was already pissed off, the day would inevitably drag on slowly.

_911 – my dress is not in yet. Need you both to go on ahead and work with the venue to make sure it looks amazing, but not extravagant. Will call when my incompetent seamstress fixes this._

_**Dante's POV**_

"What's going on?" I asked. I got up and wrapped my arms around her waist from behind her, looking down at the text message on her phone.

"Maxie's dress isn't ready," she answered, shoving her phone back into her purse and digging around for something. I felt her body melt into mine just enough to know that she was using all of her will power to ignore whatever illness was still in her system. "She wants us to go to Manhattan now to set up and make sure everything looks good."

"I thought the train wasn't leaving until 10," Michael remarked. "Do you need me to call Dad and send a driver over to bring you to Manhattan?" 

"I'll just drive," Lulu answered, frustrated about whatever she wasn't finding in her large bag. I reached forward and helped her, pulling her keys out from under makeup, power bars and jewelry.

"That actually works out great," I remarked, shooting a knowing glance at Michael. "We can take a train later, and then the four of us can drive back together after the event."

Lulu and Abby had no idea, but my brother and I had booked rooms in the city for the night. As soon as Maxie announced the location of the Crimson charity gala back in August, I knew that it would be the perfect opportunity to get Lulu to New York City without any work interference. I had played the whole thing – the beautiful hotel suite that we would stay in after the work was done, the limo that would bring us from a picnic lunch in Central Park to a private tour of Yankee Stadium and the moonlight carriage ride that would lead us to Rockefeller Center, where I would ask Lulu to be my wife. Michael agreed to stay in the city with Abby and join us for the celebration after what I prayed would be an acceptance to my proposal. What I hadn't planned on was Lulu getting sick. But after the stress that came along with the event was over, I hoped that she would rebound. And if she didn't, I would save the proposal for once she felt better.

Lulu turned around in my arms and kissed me softly. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course," I reassured her.

Two hours after Lulu and Abby had left for Manhattan, I sat at my desk staring at the empty tray that typically held my case files. In all of my years on the police force, I had never been without a case to work on. Sure, it was better for the community as a whole that things were calm in Port Charles, but after my first years in town dealing with the Lopez brothers, Franco, the Balkan and even my father, a quiet week just felt bizarre.

"Take your pick," Ronnie called, setting two file folders on my desk. "You can have the ninth grader who claims her best friend stole her cell phone _and _her boyfriend or the woman who has called fourteen times because her neighbor's kids are too loud."

"Wow, are you sure I'm up for this kind of detective work?" I asked sarcastically, looking up and noticing my father and Michael walking in together. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," Sonny asserted, staring Ronnie down, "in private."

I glanced at my brother's face for some indication of what was going on, but he looked as unsure as I felt. I stood up and led them into the interrogation room. Ever since Brenda was found and the Balkan left town, Sonny and I had been on decent terms. It was important for my brothers and sister to know that I was trying to make my relationship work with Sonny. His business had not given me much reason to investigate him lately, so although we were far from Sunday dinners at his house, we were able to interact peacefully.

Sonny closed the door behind him and looked at us slowly. I could tell something was wrong, and I immediately worried for my sister who was away at school. Michael's brain must have gone to the same place, because he put that same concern into words.

"What's going on? Is Kristina alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, your sister is fine," Sonny answered, "I just talked to her guards at Yale."

"And Morgan?" 

"Morgan is safe, too," he responded, pulling an envelope out of his pocket and pushing it towards me. I grabbed it and examined the typed address on the front. It had his name on it, but no address. "I got this last night. It was waiting for me on the doorstep. Go ahead – open it."

I removed the contents from the envelope and realized they were photos. The first was one of Sonny and Brenda's wedding pictures. It was the same family portrait that Brenda had framed above the fireplace in their dining room, depicting Sonny, Brenda, my siblings and me. Brenda had given each of us our own individual copies in frames, as well, for our birthdays.

"What is it, Dante?" Michael asked. I flipped that photo over and noticed the back was blank, then handed it to Michael, uncovering the second photo. It was a black and white shot of Michael and Abby kissing outside of Jake's. It looked like a surveillance photo – something that Michael and Abby probably didn't know had ever been taken. I flipped through the next photos, each getting a little more disturbing. There were photos of them in Michael's apartment, the MetroCourt and Abby's place, all showing them having sex. I went through them quickly, uncomfortable with what I was seeing.

"I don't get it. What's the big deal about somebody sending Dad wedding pictures?" 

"They're not just wedding pictures," Sonny answered, speaking when I couldn't find words. I had gotten to the second half of the pile, where the subjects went from Michael and Abby to Lulu and me. My heart accelerated as I paged through what could only be described as our most intimate moments on film. All of the pictures were blank on the backside except for the last one.

It was taken on a camping trip we had been on in September. How anybody could have gotten that view inside of our tent baffled me, but the writing on the back was what grabbed my attention.

"Your wife deprived me of ever having a grandchild. I feel inclined to return the favor…" I read aloud.

Michael reached forward and pulled the pictures from my hands. His face turned bright red as he looked through them. The rage that he had become so good at hiding away was resurfacing.

"What kind of sick bastard does this!" he screamed, crumpling the photos into a ball and hurling them across the room.

"Theo Hoffman," Sonny sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "I've already put more guards on your sister, but this threat is pretty targeted. I want you both to take Lulu and Abby to the island. My jet is already waiting for you."

Without saying a word, Michael looked at me and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. My hand reached for my pocket and instinctively dialed Lulu's phone number. Seconds seemed like hours as the phone rang over and over again, then went to voicemail. Michael had the same experience calling Abby.

"Damn it!" Michael swore, frantically pressing the end button on his phone and trying again. I choked back the fear I was feeling, trying to convince myself that they were driving with the radio on loud and didn't hear their phones. That had to be it – there was no way that anything could have happened in two hours. The problem with being a cop, though, was that I knew better.


	2. Chapter 2

_You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for reading this and reviewing it! Let me know what you think after this chapter _

_**CHAPTER TWO**_

_**Dante's POV**_

The twenty-seven minutes that passed from the first time I had tried to call Lulu's cell phone and the moment that the desk clerk had walked into the interrogation room to tell me that Lulu's car had been reported as being in a motor vehicle accident felt like years. Sonny had gone to Jason's to get Spinelli's help investigating the threat, and Michael sat across the table from me, frantically trying to contact Abby. I knew that filing a missing persons report when I had seen Lulu only a few hours ago was premature, but my gut told me that something was wrong.

Then we found out about the accident. All that the clerk could tell us was that two victims had been transported by ambulance to GH. There was no way of knowing if the victims were even the women we were so concerned about. In a weird way, I hoped they were. At least then I would know that they were alive.

When I walked through General Hospital's emergency room door, I had no recollection of how I got there or Michael being with me.

"Dante –" a familiar voice called. I looked up and noticed my mother's fiancé approaching.

My mind was screaming. But my mouth was not cooperating with my brain. How hard was it to ask if Lulu was alright?

"Are Abby and Lulu here?" Michael questioned, proving to me once again that my younger brother was far calmer in a crisis than I could ever be. "We heard that Lulu's car was in an accident."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, it sounds like the car went off the road and hit a tree. They were both brought in by ambulance about ten minutes ago. I have ordered some tests for Abby, and Dr. Drake is with Lulu."

"Are they alright?" Michael continued questioning.

"They were both unconscious when the squads arrived, but they're in stable condition. Abby was already alert when she got here. She seems to have a few broken ribs, and I want to run some more x-rays on her wrist. She may have a concussion, but I'm not too concerned about any serious injury at this point."

"And Lulu?" I asked, finally snapping out of the silence that had been paralyzing me.

"I'm sorry," Steve started, putting his arm on my shoulder, "I don't really know anything at this point. Patrick took her upstairs for some tests. I'll make sure he updates you as soon as possible."

"Can I see Abby?" Michael asked.

"Sure, you can both go in," Steve answered, gesturing to a curtain across the room.

Within two seconds flat, we were in the small exam area where Abby was already being questioned by an officer whose name I could not remember. He obviously knew who I was, though, because he cleared his throat and adjusted his posture when I walked in. "Detective Falconeri – I was just getting some details about the accident. I can let you take over if you want…"

I shook my head, focusing on the relief in Michael's eyes as he sidestepped my colleague and kissed Abby's cheek, whispering something to her. I was relieved that Abby was safe, but I would not have any relief until I could see the woman I loved.

"Abby is my brother's girlfriend, and my girlfriend was – is the other injured party, so it's a conflict of interest. If Abby's comfortable with it, go ahead with the questioning."

"I was just telling the officer about the crash," Abby clarified. "There really isn't much to tell. I remember that Maxie called me freaking out because the final guest list had never been sent to the sponsors, so I was using Lulu's phone to send it since she was driving. She was telling me what to write and her speech started to slur a little bit. I asked if she was alright, and she told me she had another headache. She's been getting headaches a lot lately, probably from the stress of planning the gala. I turned my attention back to the phone and we continued prepping the e-mail. She only made it a couple of sentences, and I could barely understand what she was saying. I looked over at her and she was slumped over in the seat unconscious. I freaked out and grabbed the wheel, but I must have pulled too hard because we veered off the road. The next thing I remember, I woke up in the ambulance."

"You said that Ms. Spencer was slurring her speech," the officer repeated as he wrote on his accident report. I knew exactly where he was headed, and I would be damned if he was going to insinuate that Lulu had done anything wrong.

"She hadn't been drinking if that's where you're going," I blurted out. My tone was much harsher than I had meant for it to be. "I was with Abby and Lulu until they left this morning. She's not an alcoholic. She's has the flu, that's it."

"I just have to take the statement," the officer said softly, "I'm sorry, Detective. I can't keep anything out. The tox screen should rule out any wrongdoing."

"It's fine," Michael interrupted, "Nobody has anything to hide here. I'm sure Lulu was just feeling faint because she's sick."

"She really has been out of it for awhile," Abby added. "Michael's right. Lulu hadn't been drinking. Is there anything else you need answered?" 

"Not for now."

The moment that the officer left, Michael turned his gaze from Abby to me. "You have to chill out, Dante. He was just doing his job."

"I know," I groaned, rubbing my temples. I had to pull it together, because I felt like I was going to leap out of my skin. I had to find something to distract me from the urge to tear the hospital apart until I could see Lulu with my own eyes. Had Steve said she was conscious? Did he use the word? I couldn't remember.

"It was really strange," Abby's voice interrupted my mind's rant. "I've never heard anybody's speech change so quickly. I mean, I know that Lulu wasn't drinking, but even if I didn't, I've been around enough drunks to know what that sounds like. It wasn't like that."

"I'm sure she's going to be fine," my brother spoke, trying to calm both of us. "Are you really okay or are you just lying to the doctors?"

I noticed the look in Michael's eyes and realized that I wasn't doing any good by passing my worries off onto him. I slipped around the curtain to give them some privacy and took a seat in the waiting area. There were a million things that I should have been doing, like calling Lulu's family or tracking down the accident report. But until I could see her, there was no point.

"Dante…"

I looked up and saw Dr. Patrick Drake standing over me. Instead of wasting any time trying to read his expression, I stood up to face him. "Where's Lulu?"

"They are bringing her to a room, and you can see her in a few minutes. We ran a CAT scan and some blood tests. We'll have the results any minute. She is in and out of consciousness, so it's too soon to know her prognosis, but I'm obviously a little concerned after hearing that she lost consciousness while driving. Has she been having any similar episodes lately?" 

I shook my head vehemently. "No, she has been a little sick. I think it's the flu. I tried to convince her to get checked out, but she said it was nothing. I should have pushed her harder."

"I understand that you feel like you missed something, but there are a lot of reasons Lulu could have passed out. Until we have the blood work back and can talk to Lulu, we won't have any definitive answers."

"Lulu Spencer's blood tests," Epiphany announced, rushing over to us and practically throwing a file at the doctor. Patrick looked them over and swore under his breath.

"Stop the pain meds in her IV and page Dr. Lee," he ordered, signing something and passing the chart back off to Epiphany before they both rushed past me. I followed my impulse and chased after them. When I got to the door of the hospital room, I saw past Epiphany, Patrick and the several other hospital staffers in the room. My eyes locked on Lulu's soft features. Aside from the small bandage on her forehead, she was perfect. I just needed her to open her eyes.

I must have been standing in the middle of the doorway, because I felt myself being shoved out of the way when Dr. Lee walked in. She was followed by an orderly pushing a cart with medical equipment.

"What's going on?" I questioned softly, but nobody heard me above their conversation.

Within seconds, the orderly had pulled the blankets off of Lulu and Epiphany was moving her hospital gown up over her stomach. I recognized the blue gel being placed on Lulu's abdomen from the medical shows that she always made me watch on TV. They always used that on pregnant women before they did an ultrasound. _Pregnant women…_

"What are you doing?" I cleared my throat, finally audible in the room.

"Checking for a fetal heartbeat," Dr. Lee answered without even looking at me. She ran the extension of the machine along Lulu's stomach. The room went silent. I didn't hear anybody breathe in that moment. And then we all exhaled when the small thumping became audible.

"Okay, let's keep the drip going but stop the pain meds until we can make sure that the baby is alright," Dr. Lee ordered as Epiphany took notes. "When she wakes up, I'll do a more comprehensive exam, but it looks like we're in the clear. Dante, can you tell me how far along she is?"

"Um... I – uh," I stumbled, "Are – Are you sure she's really pregnant? I mean, that sound – it's not something else, is it?"

"It's definitely a baby," she answered, "You should take a seat. You look pale. There's nothing else we need to do until Lulu's awake, so we'll give you some time alone with her."

The room cleared out just as quickly as my life had been turned upside down. I took Dr. Lee's advice and plopped down on the end of Lulu's bed, my eyes locked on the floor. How could this be happening? Lulu and I had always been incredibly careful. In fact, sometimes we were so careful that it was annoying. She was religious about taking her birth control pill. Every night at 9 her phone beeped to remind her. Last night was no different.

I snapped out of the daze I was in when I heard a soft knock on the door. I looked up and locked eyes with Sonny. It surprised me that I was glad to see him in that situation.

"Is she okay?" he asked, nodding his head toward Lulu.

"For now, yeah," I nodded, forcing myself to stand up even though my legs felt like rubber. "They, uh… they need to run some more tests when she's awake."

"I saw Michael and Abby. I made a few calls and have some guys can go check out the car and make sure nothing looks out of place. Do you know where they would have taken it?"

"Probably that body shop by the PCPD," I guessed, "But Abby made it sound like Lulu just passed out. I don't think you're going to find anything wrong with the car."

"Yeah, I understand, but I don't like the timing, you know? I get a threat against Abby and Lulu last night and all of the sudden they get in a car accident."

"No, you're right," I nodded, remembering the exact wording of the threat. It was all about taking Sonny's grandchild away. Up until ten minutes ago, none of us knew Sonny had a grandchild. Now, all of the sudden, it was more real. I just had to figure out how Theo would have known Lulu was pregnant before she even figured it out. "The timing is no coincidence."

I looked back at Lulu, who was still asleep, before gesturing to my father to follow me into the hallway. I looked around to make sure that we were out of anybody else's earshot before I continued. I made sure to keep my voice down, unsure of who might be lurking. "The doctors just told me that Lulu is pregnant."

Sonny's face was hard to read. I thought I would see some sort of shock or maybe even excitement, but he was unreadable. When he spoke, his voice was low and deep. "Is the baby alright?"

"They found a heartbeat and Dr. Lee seemed really relieved about it. They stopped Lulu's pain medication as a precaution, but I think everything's good."

"Good, that's good," Sonny nodded. "I'm assuming that you didn't know about the pregnancy."

"No, I had no idea. I can't imagine Lulu does either. What bothers me is that Theo obviously did know."

Sonny was about to respond when we heard sobbing coming from inside Lulu's room. I turned around quickly and approached her bedside. She was just waking up, and I could tell she was in a lot of pain. I took her hand in mine and tried to soothe her with my voice.

"Hey, hey – it's alright. Just take deep breaths. We'll get a doctor in here to check you out as soon as you open those gorgeous eyes for me."

Her eyes were full of tears when she pried them open. I reached forward to try and clear them for her. "Just take deep breaths, okay? Sonny is going to get the doctors, and after they run some more tests, they should be able to give you something for the pain. Can you do that for me, beautiful?"

She gave me a small nod and inhaled deeply, biting her lower lip like I'd seen her do hundreds of times when she was trying to keep herself from crying.

_**Lulu's POV**_

The light hitting my eyes was incredibly painful, but I was afraid to close them. I remember opening them in the ambulance, but as desperately as I wanted to stay awake, I couldn't. If I closed my eyes again, I feared that I would lose more time.

"Abby?" I questioned, squeezing Dante's hand when a sharp pain shot through my temple.

"Abby is fine," he answered, clasping my hand with both of his. "She has a couple of broken ribs, maybe a concussion. We're more worried about you. Do you remember the accident?"

"The email – for the sponsors," I started from what I could last recall doing, "I thought I had already sent it yesterday. I must have forgotten. Maxie was so upset. I was telling Abby what to write, and then everything got fuzzy. The next thing I remember, I woke up in an ambulance, but I couldn't keep my eyes open."

"You're doing great now," he smiled. I noticed that his eyes were narrowing in on my face like he was waiting for me to lose consciousness again. I could tell the thought of it terrified him.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"They're still running tests, Lulu. There's no need for you to worry until we have more answers."

"Then why can't I have anything for the pain?" 

His eyes traveled down to the floor and I had him figured out. He never looked into my eyes when I figured out that there was something to pry out of him. I prepared myself to hear that I had a brain tumor and needed emergency surgery. Or maybe I had a small stroke. Or I was about to experience my worst nightmare and become catatonic like my mother.

"Look, there's no point in hiding the truth from me. Just – just tell me now so that I can start dealing with it."

He leaned down to kiss me and only lifted his lips a few inches away from mine before answering.

"The doctors ran some blood tests, and it turns out… we're going to have a baby."


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER THREE**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

"That's not funny."

I understood why he would try to lighten the mood. I was terrified of losing my sanity or brain function. Dante obviously felt my terror and was trying to distract me with humor. But this was not the time to fool around. I really wanted, no _needed_, to face reality. Playing house was not going to make anything better.

"I'm not joking," he whispered, removing one hand from mine and placing it on my abdomen. "I don't know how it happened or when, but it's true. I even heard a heartbeat."

One look at his face told me that he wasn't kidding. I searched for a reaction, for myself or for him. But my mind went completely blank. Before I could say anything, several members of the medical staff entered the room.

"Lulu, we're going to take you for some more tests now that you're awake," Patrick told me, then turned his attention to Dante, "We'll bring her back here when we're done."

_**Dante's POV**_

I leaned down to kiss her forehead and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. I had desperately hoped for her to say something, but had to give her time to catch up. "We can finish talking about this in a little bit. Don't worry – I'm not going anywhere."

She closed her eyes to blink away some tears as I moved out of the way to let them take her for more tests. I followed them out of the room and stopped in front of my father. He paused before walking into the empty room. I took a few steps inside and closed the door behind me.

"I checked in with Michael and Abby. She's definitely not pregnant," Sonny started.

"I'm sure that was an uncomfortable conversation."

"Well, we had to make sure that we know exactly what's going on. Michael gets it. He knows that Theo is not to be messed with. I want to make sure you do, too."

"I've been there for all of Theo's moves, Sonny," I argued, offended that he would think a threat against Lulu, against _my child_, would not register, "I get that he's a threat. Just because I was not okay with you and Jason killing him does not mean that I don't understand how dangerous he is. That's my family that they just took out of here on a stretcher, and whatever is going on, I know that Theo has something to do with it!"

"I didn't mean to say otherwise," he explained. "I just think that handling things your way could take more time than we have. If Theo really does know that Lulu is pregnant, he's going to come after her, if he hasn't already."

"Hold on, that's a lot of ifs," I interrupted, "Theo has to know something. Why would he make such a targeted threat against your grandchild if he didn't have a clue that Lulu's pregnant?" 

"Maybe it was more about messing with my head – making me think that either Lulu or Abby was carrying my son's child. Then they get into a terrible car accident and die. You and Michael are devastated, and I have to live believing that I lost a grandchild."

"That would require Theo to know that Lulu and Abby would get into an accident."

"Which is exactly why my men are checking the car," Sonny explained.

"No, they weren't even supposed to be driving today, and Abby seems pretty convinced that she just pulled the steering wheel too hard. This looks like a real accident."

"Key words there being looks like," Sonny contended. "Dante, you're a great detective. You're sharp and you never rule anything out. I'm proud of you for that. But you're too close to this. You just found out that you're going to be a father, and I understand how that can catch you off guard. It makes sense that you're not seeing this clearly. That's why I'm asking you to just let me deal with Theo Hoffman."

"How, Sonny? Are you asking me to let you kill a man because he may or may not be after my pregnant girlfriend? How does that make me any different than the criminals that I arrest every day?" 

"All you have to do is keep this pregnancy quiet for a little bit. If Lulu didn't even know about it, then there's almost no chance Theo knows for sure. We just have to keep it that way until I can deal with him."

I shook my head, not at what Sonny was saying, but in disbelief that it all made sense to me. At that moment, I was not a cop being asked to turn the other cheek. I was a son being advised by my father as to how to keep my family safe.

"You're right. Until it's safe, nobody needs to know that Lulu's pregnant."

There was a knock on the door and Robin Scorpio walked in. She looked from me to Sonny and sighed. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we just got the results from Lulu's tox screen," she explained, "And since Dr. Lee and Dr. Drake are still running tests, they asked me to share them with you."

"There's no need to," I answered, "I already know they're clear." 

"Actually, we did find something. There were traces of a drug in Lulu's bloodstream, but we're having a hard time identifying exactly what it is. Has she been taking anything lately?" 

"Just birth control pills," I answered, focusing on Robin's uncertainty, "So when you say you're having a hard time identifying this drug – how does that happen?"

"It doesn't," she explained, "Which is why I thought I would tell both of you. Whatever this drug is, it's been attacking Lulu's nervous system, which probably explains her slurred speech before the accident. What we need to determine is what exactly the drug is and if it has caused any permanent damage."

"Permanent damage?"

"I'm sorry, Dante, I didn't mean to alarm you. We really don't know much yet, but it would help if we can figure out how the drug got into Lulu's bloodstream."

"Theo drugged her," Sonny's words articulated what we both already knew. "But how?"

"Let's start with testing the birth control pills to make sure the prescription wasn't tampered with," I spoke, my mind racing with possibilities. Somehow it helped to think about this like a detective. I could keep myself occupied and my mind off of the phrase _permanent damage. _"She keeps them in her purse."

"The police brought Lulu and Abby's personal effects in with them. I'll bring the prescription to the lab right away," Robin volunteered before turning to leave. I realized that Robin must have been involved in Sonny's life far longer than I had, because she never questioned anything. She knew what he needed from her and stepped out of his way when her work was done. I doubted I would ever get to that point with my father.

"Robin," his voice stopped her, "Keep this quiet, okay? And tell Patrick and Dr. Lee to do the same."

"Done," she answered simply before leaving.

"I should have seen this before," I groaned, "It has to be the birth control pills. If Theo had someone switch them out with whatever drug he's been giving Lulu, then he would have a good chance to make sure you would have a grandchild to take away. And a drug that attacks her nervous system would be dangerous enough to put her in a lot of life threatening situations."

The thought of all of those situations made me physically ill. I leaned against the wall and exhaled, trying to slow my rapidly accelerating heart rate.

"Lulu's alive, Dante. So is your child," Sonny tried to calm me, "Just focus on that, and I'll deal with everything else."

_**Lulu's POV**_

The day seemed to drag on for months. All the cognitive tests that the doctors had given me kept me a little distracted from the pain, but I got the impression that some of my answers were not what they had hoped for. Every once in awhile, Dr. Drake would repeat a question and ask me to think a little longer about it before answering. Each time that happened, I felt more uneasy. And I had not even figured out how to feel about the pregnancy.

When they had finally finished with all of the exams, they brought me back to my room. I was surprisingly relieved to see that it was empty. I needed some time to myself to digest everything that had happened. But my thinking time was stolen by my body's exhaustion, and I fell asleep almost immediately.

I woke up what must have been several hours later and realized that the sun had already set. I saw Dante standing outside the door on his cell phone. His posture was sunken, a sure indication that he was drained. He paced a little bit, and I wondered how he was handling everything.

"Ma, there's no reason for you to come here tonight. Lulu's alright. They think it was just exhaustion."

He turned around when he used my name and smiled when he realized I was awake. "I have to go, Ma. I'll call you later."

"Still no pain medication?" I asked softly when he finally shoved the phone into his pocket and approached the bed. I was convinced that I would be able to process everything if only I were able to dull the pain.

"Only me," he grinned, kissing my forehead. "But the good news is that I have not only fended off my mother for the night, but also your brothers, Tracy and your dad. Don't worry; they'll all come back tomorrow."

"Did you lie to all of them or only your mom?" I asked, not expecting an answer. "The truth must be pretty bad, because your mom will freak when she realizes that it's not just exhaustion and that you lied about it."

"I thought that you and I could talk about all of it. And then you can decide what you want to tell everybody else."

I glanced down at my stomach, then back up to his dark eyes. I wondered if he was worried about the pregnancy. He had been supportive when I told him that I had an abortion as a teenager. He probably harbored concern that I would make the same decision in this case. While I had not reached any definitive conclusion, I knew that I could never go through having an abortion again. But I wanted to figure out the truth about my own health before delving into that discussion.

"I think I failed all of those stupid cognitive tests."

"Patrick said that you did as well as he would have expected, considering," he cleared his throat before continuing, "Lulu, I know what I have to tell you is going to freak you out, but you have to promise to just trust that I'll take care of everything, okay?"

"Yes, fine, sure… just tell me."

"Last night, Sonny got a threat from Theo Hoffman. It was targeted at you and Abby. Theo wants Sonny to lose a grandchild just like he did."

"Wait, last night? Nobody knew I was pregnant before the accident." 

"I know. It's a really long story that I promise I will catch you up on, but for now, you need to know that the doctors found a drug in your bloodstream that has been attacking your nervous system. Robin tested your birth control pills and determined that they had been switched with this mystery drug, which explains the pregnancy."

"Mystery drug?"

"The doctors are trying to isolate it now. For now, they don't' want to give you anything else because they don't know how the medications will react. But they said that you are doing really well, so there's nothing to be worried about at the time. And we've got people looking at the pharmacy to figure out who is working for Theo."

"How long have I been taking it?" I asked, realizing that I had picked up my last refills three months ago.

"They don't know for sure, but Dr. Lee says you're nine weeks pregnant, so probably a little longer than that."

There was no stopping the tears that were harboring beneath my eyelids at this point. I thought about all of the times that I had felt sick and stubbornly avoided seeing the doctor. I probably could have prevented the car accident and saved Abby pain. I would have known that I was pregnant and stopped taking what I thought were birth control pills. My thoughts spilled into speech. "Oh my God, the baby…"

"Hey, stop worrying," Dante soothed, sliding his body next to mine on the bed and pulling me into his arms. "Dr. Lee says that everything looks good with the baby right now. She's going to monitor you while you're here and make a plan after that. And until we can find Theo, I think we should keep the pregnancy a secret. The more people that know, the more likely Theo will find out."

I nodded, "That makes sense."

"Lu, you are both safe, and I'm going to do everything in power to make sure you stay that way."

I knew that Dante would keep his promise. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that nobody else would pay for my mistakes.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments! I have been so motivated to write this lately, and it is so incredible that people actually enjoy it! This chapter is a little bit lighter, but don't worry – there is plenty of angst and drama to come!_

_**CHAPTER FOUR  
**_

_**December 2011**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

I looked at myself in the mirror and groaned. I had been out of the hospital for three weeks now, but between appeasing Maxie at work, checking in with Dr. Drake every other day and officially moving into Dante's apartment, I had not given myself any time to find clothes that hid my expanding stomach. My current outfit, a strapless red dress that I had purchased months ago for this occasion, was skin tight against my abdomen. There was no way I could wear it to Olivia's wedding without the entire Falconeri family figuring out that I was pregnant.

"If I show up to your mother's wedding in a sheet, is that inappropriate?" I called to Dante, who was in the shower behind me.

"You mean to the Catholic wedding ceremony full of my conservative Italian family?" he quipped. "Yeah, I think that's borderline inappropriate."

His statement was just another reminder for me of this day's importance. It would be the first time that I would meet his family from Bensonhurst. Before the car accident and all of the craziness that came with it, I had really been looking forward to showing up on Dante's arm in the gorgeous dress that no longer fit me. Now, I was so nervous about slipping up that I was practically shaking. Up until that point, I had been successful in hiding my pregnancy. But if I messed up that day, all of the Falconeris would know that we had created a child out of wedlock.

I had not lost consciousness since the accident, but I was still prone to mental lapses. Every so often, I would completely lose my thoughts as if I had instant amnesia. Dr. Drake told me that it would take awhile to figure out whether or not that would be permanent, but it scared me to death. I explained it away at work, telling Maxie that I was overwhelmed and needed some time to get back into the swing of things after having a week off. At home, I did my best to hide it from Dante. About a week after I was released from the hospital, we were in the grocery store to buy the ingredients for tacos. I stepped away from him to get tortillas and became completely turned around. It terrified me, because I had no idea where I was or how I had gotten there. Fortunately, I ran into Olivia and started talking. Dante assumed that I had become sidetracked and didn't question it.

I wanted to tell him about everything that had been happening, but he was completely consumed with finding Theo Hoffman. Sonny put bodyguards on me and Abby, but even so, Dante was always home when right after I got home, often on the phone with somebody with other precincts trying to get leads on the Balkan. He seemed relieved that my health was better, and I didn't see any reason to ruin that.

"Why don't you let me take you on a quick trip to the store to get a new dress before the wedding? I'll call my mother and explain that we're running a little late."

"You're not going to be late for your mom's wedding," I argued, pulling the dress over my head in disgust and tossing it across the bathroom floor. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, now only wearing a bra and panties. In all the time since I had left the hospital, our conversations around the pregnancy revolved around hiding it. Neither of us had talked about the reality that we were going to be parents. Sometimes it was easy to forget that part. But looking at the visible changes in my body, I was brought out of my denial.

"Sure, but you can't go in that," he grinned, opening the shower door and wrapping a towel around his waist. "As much as I love this option, I won't be able to walk my mother down the aisle if you're in that."

"Maybe I can just wear a tuxedo," I whined, walking back into the closet and looking over my dresses for a fourth time. "At least then your family won't think I'm a slut."

"You need to breathe," he encouraged, stepping behind me and grabbing a black dress off the floor that I had tried on for him about an hour earlier. "This one was fine."

I took the dress from him and stepped into it, pulling it up and smoothing out the wrinkles. "I wore this dress to a dance my senior year of high school. If Maxie saw me in it now, she'd kill me before she even had the chance to fire me."

"Well, then it's probably a good thing that Maxie will not be at my mother's wedding. Lulu, nobody in my family knows anything about fashion. And I think you look beautiful in this dress."

"You have to say that," I pouted, sliding past him to fix my hair.

_**Dante's POV**_

Giving my mother away at her wedding had been an incredible experience. She looked breathtaking and happier than I had ever seen her in my life. And her new husband was a very deserving man. As I followed them out of the church to greet all of their guests, I felt a small pang of guilt in my stomach. I thought that Lulu and I would be engaged by now. I had pictured this wedding being a great chance for my extended family to meet my fiancée. With everything that had been happening, I decided that a marriage proposal would really freak Lulu out.

As the dozens of family members came to say hello and hug me, I started to get nervous that I still hadn't seen Lulu come out of the church. I remembered that Liz had asked her to keep an eye on Aiden during the ceremony, so tried to remind myself that she was most likely hanging back with her nephew. I had been struggling to give her space since she got out of the hospital. As much as I wanted to keep her safe, I didn't want to smother her, and that required me to stifle my impulses.

"So, Dante, where's this girl of yours that Olivia keeps telling us about?" my uncle's wife, Therese, interrupted my thoughts as she pulled me into a hug.

"Somewhere around here," I answered, struggling to breathe while my uncle's wife squeezed me. She was much younger than Uncle Angelo. They were married two years ago after a long, dramatic affair that took place while she was still in college. Angelo was 45 years old at the time. The only time I had met her was at their wedding when she was falling over drunk and hitting on me mercilessly. "You know, maybe I should go find her."

"You look so handsome today," Therese continued, grasping the sleeve of my tuxedo tightly so that I couldn't really move after she released me from the embrace, "I'm surprised that this girl can keep her hands off of you."

"Well, it is my mother's wedding day," I remarked, smelling the tequila on her breath, "And we are in church."

"We could change that if you want," she leaned into me and whispered into my ear.

"Dante!"

I turned around and thanked God for Lucky Spencer. He was carrying Jake in one arm and holding onto Cameron's hand in the other. I could tell from the frown on his face that he was less than pleased to see Therese hanging all over me.

"Therese, you'll have to excuse me," I told her, prying my arms away from her and approaching Lucky. "Thanks for the save, man. She's crazy."

"Whatever you say," Lucky smirked. "Do you know where my sister is? Elizabeth told me she has Aiden."

"Yeah, I think she's still in the church. I was just about to go find her."

"Sure you were," he answered suspiciously. Lucky had been more than a little concerned about his sister since the car accident. We kept telling him that the doctors said she had gotten sick from exhaustion, but he was not buying it. He was convinced that she needed to get more tests done. I had learned that he had the same apprehension that Lulu did about becoming like their mother. I hated lying to him almost as much as Lulu did, but we decided that if we told him everything, it would put him in a bad position on the force.

"Are you sure she should even be here, Dante? She was in the hospital only a few weeks ago."

"You try to convince your sister to stay home and tell me how it goes," I argued playfully, trying to lighten the mood. When Lucky's face remained sullen, I turned my attention to Jake. "Hey, kiddo, you did an awesome job as the ring bearer. Nice work!"

"Using my son as a decoy," Lucky shook his head. "That's low."

"Hey, it works," I grinned, giving the toddler a high five. "Now let's go find your aunt."

I led Lucky back into the church past throngs of family members and old neighbors from Bensonhurst. When we got into the church, Cameron ran forward to the front pew, where Lulu was sitting on the floor next to Aiden, who was happily pushing a small truck across the floor. I let myself relax when I saw the smile on her face.

"Aiden, look who's here," Lulu grinned, pulling the baby onto her lap and pointing with his hand to Lucky. "Your daddy finally made it!"

Lucky rolled his eyes and sat Jake down to play with his brothers. "You couldn't let me pretend that I wasn't late, could you?"

"Not a chance," she quipped. "Did you get stuck at the station?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing you need to worry about," he told her, "Although you could tell me why you've been avoiding me."

Lulu's cheeks turned pink. I could tell that it was hard on her to lie to Lucky, and I felt horrible that my family was the reason she needed to deceive everybody she loved.

"I've just been really busy with work and moving," she answered softly, "I haven't been avoiding you."

"Really? Then why haven't you returned any of my calls? And why did Siobhan tell me that you practically ran away from her in Kelly's the other day?" 

"You know, I think Aiden needs to be changed," she covered, picking up the baby and heading out of the church. Lucky watched her leave, and then glared at me.

"One of you needs to tell me what's going on."

"You know what? I think I'm going to help with that diaper…" I replied, heading in the same direction that Lulu had a moment earlier. I rounded the corner towards the bathroom, but didn't see her anywhere. Aiden was in Steve's arms as he was introduced to several members of my family. I approached him with concern.

"Hey – sorry to interrupt. Did Lulu tell you where she was going?"

"No, sorry," he answered, wiping some drool from Aiden's face, "She just said she needed some air."

I took a deep breath, trying to survey my options. I could chase after Lulu, which would ease my fears, but make her crazy. Or I could trust that the bodyguards my father had hired were doing their jobs and she and the baby would be safe. Against my better judgment, I decided on the second choice. I would rather she find some peace than feel stress because I would not leave her alone. I just hoped that she was not gone for the entire night.

_**Lulu's POV**_

I had left the church with every intention of taking a quick walk to calm myself down and returning after Lucky had taken the boys home for the night. I knew that Milo had been following me but decided not to waste my energy trying to lose him. I just needed to figure out how to lie to my brother. I trusted Dante, and if he said that keeping the baby and everything else a secret was the right thing, I would go along with it.

However, as I started to turn corners, I confused myself. I looked at the buildings around me and lost track of what I had been doing to begin with, which frustrated me beyond belief. I sat down on the steps in front of an apartment building and took a deep breath.

"Where the hell am I?" I whispered to myself. My heart started pounding, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I put my head in my hands and panicked when I heard a car pull up in front of me. I stood up to run, but before I could get anywhere, I felt somebody grab my arm. I screamed and struggled to get away, but my shoes became an impediment and a twisted my ankle, falling into whoever was holding on to me.

"Lulu, relax, it's me, Milo."

I looked up at the man holding me and froze. "Milo… what's going on? Why are you here?"

"Mr. C has me on your security detail," he replied, his voice full of confusion. "You left the church, so I was driving behind you to make sure you were okay."

"Church?" I questioned, wincing when I put weight on my ankle as I pulled away from his grasp.

"Yeah, after the wedding. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I don't know," I whispered, letting him help me into the car.

I spent the entire drive back to the church trying to convince Milo that I was alright and there was no need to tell anybody, especially Dante, about what happened. It took a little more persuasion than I had hoped, but by the time he dropped me off in front of the reception, Milo had sworn to keep his mouth shut.

When I walked into the reception, music was blaring and the majority of the guests were dancing. I was pretty surprised at the music selection considering the staunch Catholic background of the Falconeri family. I had not seen so much bumping and grinding since my high school prom. I searched the crowd for Dante, but didn't see him anywhere. Instead, I locked eyes with Olivia, who pushed her way through the crowd to approach me.

"There she is," she smiled, pulling me into a hug, "I feel terrible that I haven't seen you much today. I meant to catch some pictures with you, but this day has gone by so fast! Don't worry, though, I haven't thrown the bouquet yet."

"Great," I replied sarcastically. "I would not want to miss that."

I felt Olivia freeze a little before stepping back and looking me up and down. "You look beautiful."

"No, you – you are breathtaking," I told her. "The gown is perfect. You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen."

"I know, look at this crowd, right?" she muttered softly. Obviously something was distracting her, because she had no idea that her response did not match the question I posed.

"Olivia, are you alright?"

"Speech time," she announced, grabbing two flutes of champagne from a waiter and handing one to me. "Let's get that son of mine up to the microphone so we can try the champagne."

"You know, I think Dante is a little worried about speaking in public," I covered, hoping to avoid questions about why I was not partaking in the champagne. "Maybe we should let him decide when to go up there."

"Are you crazy?" Olivia asked, her tone much more upbeat than it had been a moment ago, "I'm the bride, so I'll make that boy do whatever I need today."

Before I could argue, she grabbed my free hand and practically dragged me across the dance floor until she found Dante, who was talking baseball with a few other men.

"Dante, speech time," Olivia demanded, letting go of my hand and poking his shoulder. "Get up there."

"Well hello to you, too, Ma," he laughed. "What's the rush? Wait – don't answer that. I don't want to know. I'm going."

I tried to make eye contact with Dante to get his help covering, but he headed up on the stage just as quickly as Olivia put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me right up next to her. When Dante tapped on his champagne glass, Steve moved to Olivia's other side. I was trapped. I knew it was lame, but the only plan I could come up with was to drop my glass and let it shatter at my feet.

"Oh, honey, just wait," Olivia called up to Dante while the wait staff came to clean up the mess, "We've got to get your girl a refill."

Olivia turned to grab another glass of champagne, and Dante's face went a little pale.

"Okay, go ahead!" Olivia called, handing me the glass. "Careful, butterfingers."

"Sorry, I guess I'm just clumsy," I tried to cover, catching the lack of subtlety in her voice. I could feel the corner of Olivia's stare directed in my direction, and that's when I realized that she had figured it out. I paid absolutely no attention to the words coming out of Dante's mouth while I tried to figure out a way to not drink the champagne when all eyes on the room were pointed in our direction. When I heard applause and everybody started to drink, I put the glass to my lips and pretended to take a small sip before turning to sneak out of the room.

"Not so fast, kiddo," Olivia's voice stopped me. "Let's take a walk to the powder room, shall we?"

Knowing that there was already too late to lie my way out of it, I set my glass down on a table and followed Dante's mother out of the ballroom and into the bathroom. When we stepped inside, she made sure we were along and reached past me to lock the door. I felt like a child who was about to be grounded, and my streak of 9 days without being nauseous came to a very quick end.

"Are you gonna start or should I?"

I was not sure how to answer her, but looking at her standing in front of me with her arms crossed made my mind go completely blank. In that moment, I realized how lucky I had been to grow up with my grandmother. She must have felt so bad that my parents weren't there that she never called me on anything. Now Olivia was about to make sure I got to experience the terror of disappointing a parent.

"Okay then," Olivia reacted to my silence. "Why don't you start by telling me exactly how long you've been pregnant?"

"Pregnant?" I tried to cover, feeling heat come into my cheeks. "Olivia, why would you think that I am pregnant?"

"Leslie Lu Spencer, don't you lie to me young lady! I am not stupid. I had a baby when I was too young to even drive, and don't you think I didn't try to hide it. Now I am giving you a chance to come clean, and I suggest you take it."

I swallowed hard and bit my lower lip. My voice cracked when I answered her. "Thirteen weeks."

"And how long have you known?"

"Since the car accident."

"And why has nobody told me that I'm going to be a grandmother?"

"It's a really long sto-"

"I've got nothing but time," she interrupted, taking a seat on a chair in the corner and crossing her legs.

_**Dante's POV**_

I had given my toast an hour ago and had still not seen my mother or girlfriend since that moment. The music had stopped and the guests had gone home. I walked outside with my tie in my hands and found my mother's new husband sitting on the steps.

"You know, I had this friend in high school that told me a woman who makes you wait is always worth it. But my mother should be a little nicer to you on your wedding day."

"Well," Steve started, gesturing for me to take a seat next to him, "I got the impression when Olivia took off with Lulu that it was important, so I figured I should let her take care of it or she will be distracted during our whole honeymoon."

"So do you think I should be scared?"

"That your mother and your girlfriend have disappeared together for over an hour? Yeah, I'd be a little concerned if I were you. When the women in your life gang up on you, it can't be good."

I nodded my head in agreement. Our silence was shattered two minutes later by my mother's voice.

"Dante Angelo!"

I turned around and saw them walking out with their coats. My mother was walking just a step ahead of Lulu, who looked completely exhausted.

"Christmas morning, our place," my mother continued, "9 a.m. sharp. Don't you dare be late, understood?"

She leaned forward to kiss my cheek and give me a hug before taking Steve's hand. "We're out of here. Go home, you too!"

I watched the bride and groom get into the limo that had been waiting for them before turning to Lulu.

"What was that all about?"

"Let's just say that I will never try to hide anything from your mother again," she commented, sliding her coat around her shoulders.


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

_**Dante's POV**_

I stared at the computer screen in front of me blankly, just waiting for the time to change. When I had worked with the NYPD, Christmas Eve was always a very busy day. In Port Charles, it was very calm. I had been looking forward to using the morning at my desk to do some more research on Theo Hoffman, but three hours into my shift, I could not wait to leave. Mac had given me the afternoon off to accompany Lulu at a doctor's appointment before heading to Christmas dinner at my father's house. He assumed it was an appointment as a follow up to the accident, but in reality, it was so much more.

Dr. Lee had done us a favor by scheduling an ultrasound before she left for her holiday vacation. Ever since my mother had figured out that we were having a baby, the anxiety I had been feeling was slowly morphing into anticipation. I could count the facts about pregnancy and babies that I knew on one hand, but I knew that we would get to see the baby today. What man would not look forward to that?

My daze was broken when Lucky walked in. He was still not so subtle about his concern where Lulu was concerned. It made work uncomfortable, and sometimes downright difficult. I was beginning to see Lucky as a close friend before my world was turned upside down. I wished I could confide in him, and I knew that Lulu's desire to share with him must have been much deeper.

"We need to have a word," he announced, marching straight into the interrogation room. I glanced at the time once more before following him inside.

"I have to take off in about twenty minutes, but you have my attention until then."

"Tracy called me this morning," he started, pacing the length of the room as he spoke, "She is furious because Lulu told her that she won't be joining us for Christmas."

"Look, man, your sister didn't tell me anything about the Quartermaines' Christmas plans. I have nothing to do with her decision." It was not a lie. Lulu and I had barely been home at the same time since my mother's wedding. She was busy working extra hours to keep Maxie appeased, and I was trying to locate Theo Hoffman before her pregnancy too far along to hide.

"That may be true, but there is no doubt in my mind that you have something to do with her behavior lately," he continued, "I stood up for you when Lulu was ready to end things over Brenda. I thought that you two had something that was good for her. But withdrawing herself from everybody she loves is not good for Lulu."

I took a seat and sighed. I respected Lucky and understood where he was coming from. I had only known my sister for a short time, but I would move heaven and earth to keep her safe and happy. It hurt to know that a man I considered my friend was questioning whether or not I was still good for his sister.

"Look, if things are getting bad with Lulu, I get your impulse to hide it. When my mom fell apart, it was so much easier to just pretend that it wasn't happening. But the time we wasted pretending could have been valuable in helping her. I know that you love my sister, Dante. Love her enough to check her into Shadybrook for the help she needs before we lose her for good."

"That's not what's happening," I whispered, shaking my head. Although the thought scared the hell out of me.

"Then enlighten me," Lucky demanded, taking a seat across from me, "Because last I spoke with Nikolas, he was on the verge of calling Alexis to get Lulu committed against her will."

"Lulu is not losing her mind," I sighed, realizing that I would need Lucky as an ally if Nikolas was going to play the prince card. "Your sister is pregnant. We aren't telling anybody because Theo Hoffman is targeting her to take Sonny's grandchild away from him."

_**Lulu's POV**_

"You look worried."

"Wow, Abby," I laughed, taking a seat across from her at a table in Kelly's. "Subtlety is not your strong suit. Are you going to tell me I'm fat too?"

"There is nothing subtle about your expression," she explained with a grin. "It's about dinner at Sonny's tonight, isn't it? Are you dreading it as much as I am? Because I was thinking that we could make up some excuse about work and spend the day eating pizza in the office and watching old movies. Since Maxie is out of town, we would have the whole place to ourselves. Then by the time we're supposed to be at Sonny's, we just call and say we got stuck."

"As awesome as that sounds, I have to be to the hospital soon for an appointment, which is probably what is making me look so terrible," I explained, looking over the menu. I was starving, which bothered me, because I had already eaten breakfast and a snack. I was desperate to keep myself from getting too big too fast but my body disagreed. I was constantly hungry lately.

"Is something wrong with the baby?" Abby mouthed.

"No, I mean, I don't think so," I shook my head. "It's just that Dante is going to be there."

"Wow, you poor thing," she replied with sarcasm.

"No, I love Dante. I am glad he's so supportive. It's just, ever since the accident, we have been off."

"Off?"

"We only talk about Theo and my health," I elaborated. "We have not left the loft together unless absolutely necessary to keep up appearances since his mother's wedding. He won't tell me about work because he doesn't want me to worry about Theo, and I won't tell him anything about me because I don't want him to worry. So we pretty much avoid each other and sit in silence when we can't. No dating, no talking, no sex for six whole weeks."

My last statement surprised me as it came out of my mouth. I normally would not share such a detail with anybody, even Maxie. But saying it actually felt good. I was glad to have somebody to talk to, and Abby knew everything, which made her an easy confidante.

"Wow. Six weeks? Michael made it sound like the two of you… well, that you were good in the department."

"Past tense," I groaned.

"I get it," Abby nodded, "Men have this strange way of shutting down when they are feeling too much emotion. Dante is in a position of having to keep you safe. He feels out of control because he can't find Theo."

"Has Michael been shutting down?" I was hopeful that she would answer in the affirmative. I knew that it was irrational to wish that our issues would mimic hers, but part of me worried that Dante was really pulling away from me because he didn't want to be stuck with a family. I couldn't blame him. If I had a way out of the situation we were in, I would take it in a heartbeat.

"Well, we haven't been abstinent if that's what you mean. But Michael hasn't let me stay in my own apartment since the accident. I went for a jog last week and got too far ahead of the guard Sonny put on me. Michael got so freaked out that I couldn't calm him down for two hours. I haven't seen him that upset in months. But I can't say that I wouldn't be just as worried if some psychopath was after him."

My phone started vibrating in my purse. I pulled it out and read the text from Dante that he was leaving work and would meet me at the hospital in ten minutes. I groaned and set it on the table.

"Figures I wouldn't have time to eat," I sighed, "Look, I know that we are lucky to have these great guys in our lives who want to keep us safe, but I would give anything to go back to the days when the biggest worry Dante and I had was how to find alone time so that we could do exactly what it is that we have not been doing for six weeks now."

Abby laughed softly. "I think I might have a solution for you. While you are at the hospital, I will run to the mall and pick up the perfect dress for you to wear tonight. Trust me, when you pull out all of the stops, you will be getting out of family dinner early because Dante will be dragging you home for some one-on-one time."

"Have I ever told you that I'm really glad we're dating brothers?" I smiled, standing up to leave.

"At least we can be outsiders together when Brenda and Kristina gang up on us," she added. "I'll see you tonight. Good luck with your appointment."

I buttoned up my jacket and walked out of Kelly's feeling better than I had in several days. I was truly grateful to have a friend that I could talk to about everything. My life had become so full of secrets that I started to have a hard time determining truth from fiction.

_**Dante's POV**_

"I'm really sorry," I apologized for the twentieth time to Epiphany, who was obviously frustrated that she had been kept waiting for almost two hours. "I don't know what could be keeping Lulu so long, but I'm sure that whatever it is, she feels awful. This appointment is really important to us."

"It's Christmas Eve, Detective," she explained with irritation, "Most of us are waiting to get home to our families, so excuse me for not caring about whatever fashion emergency your girlfriend is dealing with that is keeping her from this appointment. She has five minutes to show up, and if she doesn't, we will reschedule this appointment for after the holidays."

"Understood," I nodded, watching Epiphany turn and leave the exam room. I looked at my phone and considered calling Lulu again. But after the first hour of calling, it started to go straight to voicemail. So instead, I dialed Abby's number, hoping that she and Lulu would be together dealing with a work crisis.

"Hello?" Abby answered cheerfully.

"Abby, it's Dante. Are you with Lulu?" 

"No, I thought you guys had an appointment today."

"We do. Well, we did _two hours ago_. She still hasn't shown up. Have you talked to her?" 

"We met at Kelly's a few hours ago, and then she left to go to the hospital."

"A few hours? Can you be more specific?"

"Um, I think she left at two. Dante, what's going on? Do you think something happened to Lulu?"

"I don't know, but I'm starting to get worried."

_**Lulu's POV**_

It was starting to get dark as I came across the pavilion in the park for the fourth time. I had no idea where I was going or why I was in the park.

"I can't believe I lost my cell phone," I whispered, slamming my purse onto the ground in frustration. After Olivia's wedding, I started to keep every detail of my day on my phone's calendar. It helped me stay on track when I had these mental slips.

I felt the tears on my cheeks starting to freeze as I sat down in the middle of the pavilion and pulled my knees up to my chest, hugging them tightly. I figured I would wait for someone to find me and figure out a lie to cover why I had been lost.

"Lulu?"

I looked up and realized that the voice calling my name belonged to a familiar face. Brenda stood in front of me with an arm full of grocery bags. She set them all down and rushed to my side, kneeling next to me and brushing hair out of my face.

"Are you alright?"

The fact that the supermodel who used to be the object of Dante's affection was the one to come help me only added embarrassment to my ongoing list of emotions. _Why couldn't anybody else find me here?_

"I just needed some air," I lied, wiping the tears from my face. "The holidays are hard."

"Are you sure? Because Milo called the house to see if Sonny could come help since you were upset."

"Milo has been watching me wander around for God knows how long and he hasn't said anything?" I questioned, raising my voice to make sure my traitor of a bodyguard heard every word. "That's a little spineless."

"You only told me that I couldn't tell Dante. You never said anything about Mr. C," Milo argued, stepping out from behind the bushes. I looked at him and shook my head in disappointment. For all of the people for him to confide in about my issues, he had to choose Brenda.

"There's nothing to tell," I insisted, pushing myself off the ground to stand. I could tell from the look on Brenda's face that she was not buying my explanation. "I'm not going to let either of you make a big deal about this and ruin everyone's Christmas. Can I borrow your phone?" 

Brenda narrowed her eyes as if she was contemplating whether or not I should be allowed phone privileges. I could not understand how men became obsessed with her so easily. She seemed awfully judgmental to me. I turned to Milo and got what I wanted from him without having to ask. I dialed a familiar number and exhaled in relief when I got the answer I was praying for.

"Lucky, yeah, it's Lulu. Can you please come and pick me up? No, everything's okay, I just need to talk to you."

_**Dante's POV**_

I walked into my father's house and looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lulu. When Brenda had called, she told me that Lulu was alright and that I should come to dinner a little early. I only took a moment to apologize to Dr. Lee and Epiphany one final time before leaving General Hospital and rushing to Sonny's house.

"In here, Dante," Brenda called. I followed her voice into the living room and found her sitting with my father, Milo and Max.

"Where's Lulu?" 

"She's with Lucky," Milo answered. "I figured that since he's a cop, we could respect her wishes and back off for the night."

I ran my fingers through my hair and took a seat. The fact that Lulu's first instinct was to call Lucky when she needed should have calmed me. Lucky was a great cop. He was my partner, and I knew he would never let anything happen to her. But she should have called me, at least to explain herself.

"She missed a sonogram appointment," I explained, embarrassed as the words came out of my mouth. "I waited at the hospital for two hours. She didn't answer her phone or try to contact me at all. What the hell happened?"

"Lulu left Kelly's to go to the appointment and was walking through the park. I was behind her, and she made it to the baseball fields when it started to snow. She took a seat on a bench for a few moments and then got up. But she started walking the wrong way. She went in circles for quite awhile, so I called to talk to Mr. C."

"Milo, why wouldn't you just help Lulu if you could tell that she was lost?" Sonny questioned. "There was no need to call me."

"Whenever it's happened before, she doesn't recognize me right away. She's almost fallen a few times, and with her delicate condition, I did not want to risk it again."

"Delicate condition? You told your flunkies that Lulu's pregnant?" I snapped at Sonny. "Who else have you told?"

"Me," Brenda admitted. "But Dante, you can't get mad at your dad about that. He wanted Max and Milo to know everything so that they would be able to protect her."

"What is most important here is Lulu," my father interrupted. I rolled my eyes. He was practically a professional when it came to changing the subject to avoid taking any blame for his actions. But he was right. Obviously there was more going on with my girlfriend than I realized.

"Back up a little," I instructed Milo, "You said what this has happened before. What exactly are you talking about and how often has it happened?"

Milo looked at his brother as if he was asking for permission to continue. Max gave a simple nod of his head and Milo stood up straighter before speaking again.

"Every so often, Lulu gets confused. She'll be in the middle of something, and then start to panic like she's lost of something. It doesn't happen every day, but probably a few times a week. She's been better lately because she uses her phone to keep her schedule."

_**Lulu's POV**_

"So the phone thing has been working, but I lost my phone today," I finished telling Lucky the story between bites of the ice cream sundae that I made myself the second we got into his apartment. When Lucky picked me up, he told me that Dante had already let him in on our secret. I chose to ignore the anger I felt toward Dante and tell Lucky everything.

"And you've been totally open with Patrick about these _episodes_?"

"Yes, he knows everything," I answered, scooping the last of the hot fudge out of the bowl and licking it off the spoon. "He says that I need to give myself time. The drug Theo gave me could have lasting effects, and there's a good chance that these symptoms will go away."

"And if they don't?"

"Then maybe I really am going to end up like Mom."

Before Lucky could respond, there was a knock at the door. "Lucky, it's me."

My eyes pled with him to ignore it, but Lucky got up from the couch and opened the door to let Dante in. I set the empty bowl and spoon on the coffee table, hoping that the right words would come to me. By now, I knew that Dante had figured everything out. Brenda probably sped to the loft to tell him about how I was crazy and not in any way worthy of carrying his child. I would have backed her up on that assumption.

"Thanks for picking her up," Dante told Lucky. "Is it okay if I talk to her for a little bit?"

Lucky nodded and took my dishes, leaning down to kiss my cheek before he left. Once he left the room, I pulled my legs up to my chest and held them against me. I felt incredibly guilty for keeping things from Dante; especially after all of the times I made him swear to me that he would never keep anything from me again.

"So Milo told you I'm going crazy, huh?"

Dante took a seat next to me. "You're not crazy. Unpredictable, yes. But crazy, no."

"Stop pretending you're not pissed off. I missed the sonogram, and I've been lying to you for weeks."

"We'll schedule another sonogram," he told me, reaching forward and brushing some fudge off of the corner of my mouth with his thumb. "And you'll tell me all about what's been happening when we get home."

The ride home was completely silent, but in a comforting way. Our silence up until that point had been infuriating, but now, the fact that Dante was so forgiving that we did not even have to talk through everything made me feel relieved. He had the perfect reason to leave. Nobody would blame a man for leaving his pregnant girlfriend after she had covered up being insane.

We walked into the loft and paused when we saw a gift wrapped box sitting on the coffee table.

"Michael grabbed the mail for me today," Dante explained, sitting on the couch and reading the label on the box. "It says it's from Paris."

"My mom," I smiled, feeling excited about the holiday for the first time all day. "She always sends the best presents."

I picked the box up and unwrapped it quickly, pulling out a book. I read the cover and frowned. It was a baby name book, which was obviously not from my mother because I had never told her about the pregnancy. I opened the front cover and saw the inscription.

_To Leslie Lu, with love from Theo_

"Well, I think it's safe to say that all of our secrets are out now."


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for your awesome reviews, once again. I really enjoy reading everything you have to say! Please keep them coming – they are so useful as I finish working through the storyline plan for this fic!_

_**CHAPTER SIX**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

As I rode in the passenger seat of Dante's car, I realized that his face looked different in the last several weeks. I wondered if the last twenty-four weeks of the pregnancy would make the lines on his forehead permanent. At that moment, he was driving to a party. He should have had a happy demeanor, or at least a tranquil one. But the lines on his face only signaled the stress that had been wearing him down for weeks.

I was hopeful that everything would turn around. I was even wearing the dress that Abby had originally given me for Christmas Eve. Since that holiday became overwhelmingly stressful, I thought I would try it out as we brought in the New Year. If somehow Dante and I could connect tonight, we could keep it up for the next year.

But as he started to accelerate, I knew that his mind was not on the way my new dress accentuated my amazing cleavage that had become a huge benefit to pregnancy. He was worried about something. Pinpointing exactly what that something was would be difficult. It could be about the possibility of me losing my mind, his difficulty finding the Balkan or the sonogram that we would go to the next day. All of these were putting tension on our relationship. And unfortunately, I had no idea how to rectify any of it.

"I have never seen you drive this fast to a gathering that includes most of my family," I joked softly.

"What?"

"I was just saying that there's no need for you to break the law just to get to Ethan's party on time," I explained, turning my body to face him. We had been forcing conversation all week, which was a step forward from silence. But talking about our families and jobs more was only scratching the surface. Every time that I tried to start a discussion about our real issues, I panicked. But if tonight was going to be a new start for us, I knew that I would have to get it started. "Are you worried about telling people?"

"About the baby?" he clarified. "Are we telling people tonight?"

"Oh, well, I guess I just assumed. We can wait, though, if you think that's better. Maybe it is better to wait. I mean, we don't need to publicize it everywhere just yet."

"I just thought you would want to wait to tell everybody until you had made your decision," he replied, pulling into a parking spot outside of the Haunted Star and turning the car off.

"My decision?" I asked. "What decision?"

I watched him pause a moment before pulling the keys out of the ignition and turning to face me. He looked into my eyes and started speaking slowly as if he wanted to be prepared to catch himself if he started to offend me in any way. "I just thought that we could wait to tell everybody that doesn't already know about the baby until we knew how to answer all of their questions."

_**Dante's POV**_

I took a deep breath and looked into Lulu's eyes. I could sense her confusion and every fiber of my being told me to retreat from the conversation and go into the party. There were so many things that could go wrong having this conversation tonight. We both seemed to prefer living in denial, even if it was tearing us apart. If we hurt each other by going any deeper, I worried that we would not come back from it.

"What questions, Dante?"

I snapped out of my daze and took her hand into mine, running my fingers along her palm. "Questions about your pregnancy. Like what we're going to do after the baby is born."

_Questions about if we are going to keep the baby._ I was not about to come out and voice the words that were running over and over in my head. It seemed to be an absurd situation, having to ask my pregnant girlfriend what she wanted to do about it when she was already a few weeks into her second trimester. I hated that I had been such a coward up until this point.

"Well, I figured we might have to move out of the loft eventually, but I don't understand why my family would worry about that right now," she answered with a frown on her face. "Why are you worried about that?"

"It's not about the loft," I shook my head, having a difficult time keeping the smile off of my face. She was thinking about life with a baby. She had not even mentioned anything about an alternative. In that moment, I realized just how much I wanted to raise the baby. It was the first time in this whole ordeal that I felt grateful.

"Dante, are you oka-"

I cut off her inquiry, slamming my lips against hers. My hands moved to her shoulders, steadying her mouth against mine. I ran my tongue against her lips, and once she allowed me access, I turned my body completely, pulling my knees onto my seat. I had definitely not planned on this coming out of the conversation. But it had been way too long, and my body was not about to wait until after midnight.

Lulu's hands moved to my waist. Her fingers looped through the belt loops on my pants and pulled me towards her as she leaned back against the door.

"Maybe we should go home," I whispered against her lips as she undid my belt.

"Seven weeks, Dante," she replied breathlessly, as if she needed to remind me how long it had been.

Finding her argument incredibly compelling, I pressed my lips back against hers, moved my fingertips down her neckline and pushed them under her jacket to rid her of it. When the pads of my fingers hit her skin, she moaned softly against my mouth. That reaction alone was enough to spur me on. I moved my hands to the hem of her dress and pushed my fingers upward, tracing lines down her thighs until I reached her knees. I maneuvered them appropriately so that I could rest my weight between them without making her too uncomfortable. It would have been easier to move to the backseat, but neither of us was about to waste the time.

Her fingers kept working, unzipping my pants and pushing them down just enough to allow her access. I rested my body against hers and started kissing her madly before the knock on the window just above our heads shocked us both. I lifted my gaze from her beautiful eyes to see who had caught us.

"Shit," Lulu whispered when she saw Nikolas hovering over the car with Brook Lynn at his side. We moved quickly to put ourselves back together, hoping that they would leave after realizing what we had been doing. But we had no so luck. As I finished buckling my belt and moved back into my own seat, Nikolas remained standing outside of Lulu's door.

"Let me handle this," Lulu instructed, putting her coat back on and zipping it all the way up before opening the door and exiting the car. I was right behind her.

"Very nice, Lulu," Nikolas groaned, staring me down as I rounded the car to Lulu's side. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it gently. I had not relayed what Lucky had told me about Nikolas' plans to have her committed. I did not want her to feel betrayed by her brother, but more importantly, I was still hoping to convince her that she was not going crazy.

"Nikolas, please don't make a big deal about this," Lulu answered, "Dante and I are two consenting adults."

"You're a police officer, Dante," he spoke as if he had not even heard Lulu, "You should understand the concept of indecent exposure." 

Lulu's grasp on my hand suddenly became harder. I opened my mouth to apologize to Nikolas, but her words beat me to it. "He also understands the concept of prostitution, but he never tried to arrest either of you."

"Okay, okay," I interrupted, noticing Brook Lynn's jaw clench. I knew that she was ready for a fight. While Lulu was more than capable of sparring herself, I did not think it was the best idea while she was pregnant. "There's no need for anybody to overreact her. Nikolas, I'm very sorry that you saw… well, what you saw. Lulu and I will try to be more discrete in the future."

"Like hell you will," Brook muttered under her breath.

"At least I don't have to drug him," Lulu countered.

"Alright, time to go inside," I declared, pulling Lulu away from my childhood friend before they started sparring with more than their words. As I led her inside the Haunted Star, I could not help but allow a smile to form on my lips.

"What are you so happy about?" she questioned, stopping me just outside the door.

"You mean besides the action I almost got in the car? I was just thinking how sexy you are when you get fired up."

"You don't have to suck up," she replied, leaning in to kiss my cheek. She let her lips linger for a moment so that she could whisper. "I have a feeling that you are going to get _very_ lucky tonight."

She pulled back from me and let me lead her inside. I took her coat and watched her head into the ladies' room before crossing the casino floor to get a few drinks from the bar. The party was invitation only per Ethan's request. The crowd was decent in size, consisting of a lot of Spencer family and friends. I stood by the bar and realized that John Zacchara was the bartender on duty and shook my head. At least working at a casino he owned a stake in was not against the law. I would not have to worry about him tonight.

"If you're waiting for a drink, you would probably have more luck going to Jake's and coming back. I don't think bartending is this guy's strong suit."

I looked over at the guy standing next to me and nodded my head in agreement. "It's not his first profession, that's for sure."

"Here I was hoping to get a drink in my brother so that he would get off my case for a few minutes. After he's done checking on his daughter, he's going to be right back here, still sober and ready to tell me why everything I do is wrong."

"In my experience, one beer is not powerful enough to change that kind of scrutiny," I answered. "Unless your debate is something easy, like burgers or pizza."

"Would choosing the right woman to spend your life with fall into the easy category?"

I shook my head. "Not a chance. Your brother doesn't approve of your girlfriend?"

"See, she's not really my girlfriend. We had this thing a long time ago, but it ended badly. I've been out of town for awhile, but I just haven't forgotten about her, you know? I was hoping to run into her and try to start something. My brother thinks that I am too idealistic or romantic or whatever he thinks it is. He keeps telling me to get over it."

"Well, I am no expert, but speaking from a little experience, I think that you should ignore your brother. To hell with what he thinks. If you love this woman, you should go for it."

_**Lulu's POV**_

We had been at the party for just over an hour, and I was having difficulty getting out away from Tracy's interrogations about my whereabouts for the past several weeks and my inability to communicate properly with my family. She had cornered me in the bathroom as soon as I arrived and followed me out to the casino. My eyes kept scanning the party for Dante, hoping to get him to come save me. But it wasn't until Ethan came over to ask her to open the safe that I could get away. I was poised to fight the crowd and drag Dante home when I heard my name. I turned to my right and opened my mouth in shock at the man standing next to me.

"Dillon?"

"Hey, Lulu," he smiled at me, stepping forward to pull me into a hug. At the last second, I realized that while my dress may have hidden my small baby bump, physical contact would not. I quickly extended sidestepped him and planted a courteous kiss on his check. He was puzzled by my actions, but only momentarily. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I blushed a little at his compliment. In the handful of times I had seen Dillon over the past few years; it was always a little uncomfortable between us. But with my pregnancy, I had been thinking a lot about the first time I was pregnant. Those thoughts inevitably included Dillon Quartermaine.

"What are you doing back in Port Charles?"

"You know, holidays," he shrugged his shoulders. "But I was actually thinking about staying for awhile. I got this contract with a documentary film producer so I've been looking for some projects."

"Yes, your mom told me about that," I nodded. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, it's been a huge blessing," he smiled. "I can pick any project I want, so I was thinking about doing it here in Port Charles. It's really been great to be home."

"Wow, well, good for you," I added. "I'm really proud of you."

"That means so much," he replied softly, reaching forward and brushing a piece of hair out of my face. "Anyway, I should be congratulating you. I heard about all of the work you're doing with _Crimson_. That's really exciting. But I have to admit, I was a little surprised that you and Maxie work so well together."

"It took us awhile to get there, that's for sure," I commented. Before I could add anything else, I noticed Johnny approaching from over Dillon's shoulder. It made me wish that I would have listened to Dante earlier in the car when he asked if we should go home. I hated that Port Charles was small enough that I could run into all of my exes in one night.

"You left this on the bar," Johnny told Dillon, handing him a credit card. "In this joint, that could prove to be a devastating mistake. Hey, Lulu."

"Johnny," I nodded, desperately hoping that Nikolas would use his impeccable timing to interrupt me in this situation. "This is a great party."

"Thanks to your brother," Johnny responded. He looked between me and Dillon for a moment before I cleared my throat.

"Oh, do you two know one another or do you need an introduction? Dillon, this is Johnny. Johnny, Dillon."

I watched them shake hands then return their gazes to me. The heat I felt in my cheeks was making me sweat.

"Wow, look at this reunion."

I looked over towards the voice full of spite and rolled my eyes. As if on cue, Brook Lynn was there, and as if to ensure I felt the full extent of the awkwardness, she was joined by Dante. I had been around Johnny and Dante before. It was never friendly between them, but I was grateful that they seemed to keep their mutual dislike for one another under control for me. What I did not know how to handle was both of them meeting Dillon.

"You guys should really get to know one another," Brook continued, "You have so much in common. Oh my God, that's right, I almost totally forgot that you are the only men to sleep with Lulu and still be alive to tell the tale."

_**Dante's POV**_

I looked at Brook in disapproval. I understood that she and Lulu did not get along, but there was no reason for her to embarrass her in front of a crowd of people. From the look on Lulu's face, she was about ready to crawl out of her skin. The fact that she didn't even make a rebuttal to Brook's statement meant that something was bothering her. Wanting to comfort her, I took a step forward and wrapped an arm around Lulu's waist before turning my attention to the man standing next to Johnny.

When I realized that he was the same man who had just been telling me all about a former lover that he was back to declare his love to, I put it all together. I did not intend for my actions to be so possessive, but my grasp around Lulu's waist tightened before I held out a hand to introduce myself.

"I'm Dante Falconeri."

The man reached forward and shook my head, obviously understanding my body language. His voice cracked just a little as he replied, "Dillon Quartermaine."

_Dillon_. Lulu and I had never spent a lot of time talking about past relationships, but I did remember that name. Dillon was the name of the boy that got Lulu pregnant when she was a teenager.

"So, you two are what, dating?" Dillon questioned, obviously trying to determine how much of a shot he had. Every ounce of ego I had was screaming at me to declare that I was the father of Lulu's unborn child and that we had been together for years. Instead, I looked to Lulu to answer.

"Yeah, Dante and I actually just moved in together," she explained. "We, uh… we just found out recently that we're having a baby."

My mouth dropped open at how openly Lulu was sharing the pregnancy with Dillon and Johnny. After weeks of keeping everything so secretive, I would have expected her to tell her family or Maxie first. From the look on Johnny and Dillon's faces, they were equally shocked.

"Wow…" Johnny exhaled. "Congratulations." He stepped forward and kissed her cheek softly.

"Thanks," she smiled. Dillon looked her up and down a few times before running his fingers through his hair. I felt bad for the guy. Here he was, hoping to rekindle something with an incredible woman like Lulu, and he finds out that she's taken. But I didn't feel bad enough to release my hand from her hip.

"That's great, Lulu," he forced before grabbing his phone, which was not ringing, from his pocket. "Excuse me."

Johnny followed Dillon away from us as I pulled Lulu against my body.

"What was that all about?"

"I guess I just wanted you to know that I'm not ashamed of anything about our lives together, especially the baby," she explained, grinning at me with that smile I had been waiting to see on her face for weeks now. "Are you mad?"

"Not in the least," I told her, leaning down plant a kiss her below her earlobe, a placement that had proven to work wonders in the past. Before pulling away from her, I took my chance to whisper in her ear.

"I love you, Lulu. Now let's get out of here and bring in the New Year properly at home."


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you for all of your sweet reviews! I'm addicted__! I am moving up the timeline on this story because there is a lot that needs to happen further down the line. Please let me know what you think of this chapter._

_**CHAPTER SEVEN**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

_**March 2012**_

"Lulu, we need that dress here before 4 o'clock! How the hell am I supposed to leave and enjoy my own bachelorette party when I cannot even accomplish a first fitting of my gown? I was supposed to do that months ago!"

I didn't bother turning my desk chair around as my best friend was panicking in her office. Maxie was getting married in four weeks, and with each day that she crossed off of the calendar, she became more frantic. The fact that she had even remembered her bachelorette party astounded me. I had to write it on post-it notes around her office, put it in her phone four times and mention it at every opportune moment.

Robin and I had planned an amazing trip to Las Vegas after Matt had proposed to Maxie. We were going to make a weekend of it by booking a massive suite and clubbing at all of the places the bride suggested. We had picked this particular weekend because it came on the heels of fashion week, which meant that we could stop working eighty hour weeks and get away for a few days. But all of that planning was before we knew that I would be twenty-seven weeks pregnant at that point.

I still would have gone, but nobody thought that it was a good idea, including the bride. Theo Hoffman was still at large. Dante was going crazy trying to convince Mac that it was still worth finding him. Unfortunately, what we knew to be evidence of the Balkan's plan did not hold up as such to the police department.

There was no evidence of foul play with the car accident, except for the drugs being planted in place of my birth control. But the pharmacist that filled the prescription had been fired. He claimed it was a mistake and gave no indication that he knew Theo. The random baby gifts that had been sent to Dante and I did not have concrete threats in them, so no judge was willing to grant any kind of search warrant. Abby and I had guards on us 24/7, and nobody had tried to hurt us since the accident. I could understand why they did not have a case.

Even so, Dante and Michael were adamant that we not take Maxie to Las Vegas because it was too dangerous. At seven months pregnant, I was not easily hidden in a crowd. Robin was not on board with it, either, since she was married to my neurologist. Patrick had just started me on a new drug therapy that he hoped would help with my lapses in short term memory. Up until that point, I had not seen any noteworthy improvement. However, since everybody in my life knew it was happening, they were always prompting me on my whereabouts and plans, even when it was completely unnecessary.

"The dress will be here. I just got off the phone with the designer. You will have it in your hands within the hour."

"Maybe you should call again," Maxie insisted, returning to my desk. "Just in case."

"Didn't Dante tell you repeatedly that stressing me out was bad for our child? How horrible would you feel if this little baby had to suffer because you could not relax for ten minutes?"

"Probably just about as horrible as you should feel for using your unborn child as leverage against me."

"Fair enough," I grinned, "I'll make you a deal; you go home and get dressed for your party. I will wait here for the dress and make sure that it is safe before I leave."

"Fine, but did you at least take care of that other thing I asked you about yesterday?"

"I tried," I started, getting out of my chair and grabbing her coat for her, "But Dante was not really in a great mood when I brought it up. He's freaked out about Theo Hoffman and all of my crazy. He really isn't in the mood to go to a bachelor party. Besides, he barely knows Matt."

"Lulu! You are my best friend, and Dante is your baby daddy, so that makes him important in my life. Matt is going to be my husband. They will have to talk to one another eventually. How come you're so good at using this baby to guilt me but haven't taken advantage of using that manipulation on Dante?"

I handed her the coat and sighed. "Fine. You're the bride. You win. I'll go talk to Dante."

(Two hours later)

"Yes, I have the dress," I explained into the phone as I walked into the PCPD. "Abby, seriously, don't worry about the party tonight. If you're feeling that miserable, just hang out at home and get some rest. Maxie will understand. Just call me if you need anything, ok?"

I hung up the phone and shoved it into my bag before looking up to see Ronnie standing in front of me.

"Wow, looks like you're ready to pop," he commented. My least favorite things about being pregnant were being told how fat I was getting and my stomach being groped by anyone who felt it was their job to feel the baby. Ronnie had been guilty of both on more than one occasion.

"I'm just starting my third trimester, so not even close," I sighed. "Is Dante around?"

"Check the interrogation room. Careful, though. He's in a terrible mood."

"Perfect," I replied under my breath. I walked around Ronnie and headed into the small room where Dante was staring at a piece of paper lying on the table. He did not even notice my entrance, so I cleared my throat softly to get his attention.

"Hey," he covered, forcing a smile. I could tell that he was hiding something, but I didn't have time to pump him for information at the moment. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Maxie's party?"

"I have to go home and get ready, but I thought I would make one last appeal to you. Can you _please_ go to Matt's bachelor party tonight?" 

"Lulu, it's been a long day. I really just want to go home and have a beer," he sighed.

"What's going on?" I questioned, knowing well that he would eventually give in and go to the party rather than fill me in on whatever was frustrating him - not that I needed an explanation.

"Nothing I want you worrying about."

"Well, maybe if you are too upset to go out, I should just stay home with you," I suggested. "We could order in, and you can tell me everything."

Normally, Dante would have realized that I was trying to guilt him into doing what I wanted. But he was so distracted by whatever issues were on his mind that he simply shook his head and groaned. "I don't need you involved."

"I'm sure that I already am," I sighed. "Dante, you don't understand how important this is. Maxie has been really stressed out lately with the redesign of the magazine and the wedding, not to mention the documentary. All she wants is for you to try to be a friend to Matt so that we can all be friends. This whole pregnancy is really freaking her out."

"Well, I guess I've been too distracted protecting my family to help Maxie cope with the fact that you and I are having a baby," he answered sarcastically, immediately biting his lip as if he could take it back the second the words came out of his mouth. "Sorry, you don't deserve that. It's been a horrible day."

"Make it up to me by enjoying your beer at Jake's with Matt. Just one hour, then you can go home."

"I'm not going to win this negotiation, am I?"

"No," I cracked a smile, moving to him so that I could kiss his cheek. "I'll see you at home later."

_**Dante's POV**_

"I still don't understand why I have to come to this party with you. Abby doesn't really care about me hanging out with Matt."

I looked at my little brother as we walked into Jake's and shook my head. "I need you here as a reason to bail. I can't really deal with staying here longer than the hour I promised Lulu."

"What's going on, Dante? Did you find something on Theo? Did he make another threat and you and dad are keeping it from me?"

I shook my head. We had not found any clues as to Theo's whereabouts in months. Part of me wished that we would get some sort of communication from him. At least we'd have evidence to work with. But not knowing was starting to infuriate me. And that fury had taken me down paths I didn't think I would travel down before.

"I got suspended," I admitted. "Mac told me awhile ago to drop the Theo Hoffman investigation, but I couldn't. He doesn't see it, but Theo's after our family. I need to stop him. So when Mac caught me making calls to other precincts to track Theo, he told me that I was too distracted to be on his force. I have to go in front of a review board before I can get reinstated."

"You're kidding?" Michael groaned. "I will never understand how the police don't see the threat. What is it going to take for them to take this seriously?"

"I don't want to find out."

"I'm sorry, Dante. I know how much your badge means to you."

"Ah, it's okay," I shook my head, trying to convince myself of the same. I was going to be a father in a few months, and I had no idea whether or not I would be able to get my job back before the baby was born. Without my badge, it was going to be a lot harder to find Theo and stop him from coming after Lulu or our child.

"Dad and Jason are on it," Michael continued, "We will find Theo."

Before I could respond to my brother, I noticed a cameraman walking into the bar. I rolled my eyes when I saw Dillon Quartermaine walk in behind him. It was not enough for him to practically tell me to my face that he wanted Lulu back, but he had to convince Maxie to let him base his documentary off of the magazine and the women that worked there. There was no doubt in my mind that it was all some ploy to spend more time with Lulu.

"Isn't your documentary about magazine publishing?" I questioned, stepping in front of Dillon. I was in a foul mood, and he was the last person that I wanted to see that night.

"You've made your feelings about this film clear," he answered. "Luckily for me, I have signed release forms to film here. You can't do anything about it, officer."

"Dante, let's just get a beer, okay?" Michael suggested, putting an arm on my shoulder.

"One minute," I told my brother, keeping my eyes on Lulu's ex. "By now, I'm sure you've had plenty of time to hear all about the danger that Abby and Lulu are in. Care to explain to me why you still insist on recording their every move?"

"We just came to take a few shots of Maxie's fiancé. Maybe get his perspective on the wedding," Dillon defended. "I don't see a correlation to that and putting women in danger. I do, however, see a correlation between women who date sons of the mob and danger."

I clenched my fist, ready for a fight. "Watch it."

"Or what?" Dillon questioned. "You know what, Dante? I'm sick of your bullshit. You have been giving me such a hard time about this project since day one – telling Lulu and Abby not to sign the consent forms and making sure that Sonny's goons are telling you everything that we tape. All I'm trying to do is give the magazine some positive publicity and make a film. I'm not the reason that a psychopath is after Abby and Lulu. That would be your father."

All of my anger came out in that moment when I slammed my fist into Dillon's cheek. Before he could retaliate, I felt Michael grab my shirt and yank me outside. I followed him to his car as my heart started to pound in my throat.

"Feel better?" he questioned as he got into the car and started it.

"Not really," I admitted, rubbing my knuckles against my leg. "Can we just go home?"

_**Lulu's POV**_

I stirred the water in my glass with a straw and fought to keep my eyes open. It was pathetic how exhausted I felt when it was not even midnight yet. I was at my best friend's bachelorette party, and all I could do was play with my incredibly virgin drink. I was the definition of distracted.

"Do you need me to call you a cab?"

I looked up and shook my head at Johnny, who was stuck bartending yet again after Ethan had called in sick. When I had chosen the Haunted Star for Maxie's party, I was hoping that my brother would be there to keep me company while I waited to perform my duties as the designated driver. But at that moment, I was glad that Johnny was there. I had been hoping to talk to him for months now.

"No, if I can't partake in the festivities, the least I can do is drive the bride home. You can do me a favor though."

"What's that?" he questioned, pouring himself a drink and taking a sip.

"Tell me about when I had my breakdown," I asked softly, making sure to keep my voice down, "You know, when we were on the run."

"Lulu, Ethan told me that you think you're going crazy. I'm not going to play into your fear."

"You won't be playing into it if you just tell me the truth," I argued. "Johnny, please? Everybody else in my life is treating me with kid gloves right now. They keep telling me that I won't turn out like my mom, but they don't know. I know that you won't lie to me. You were there the last time."

"I was there when you went through hell," he replied as if he needed to correct me. "You killed Logan in self defense, and I messed everything up by trying to cover it up. You were feeling guilty and scared. This is completely different."

"Did I ever lose time?" I asked, ignoring his rationalization.

"What?" 

"Did I have memory lapses? Like I was doing something and then totally forgot what I was doing?"

He sighed before answering, a sigh that I recognized as a concession. "Sometimes it was like you were foggy. I wouldn't call it losing time, though. You would see Logan, and then you would be so freaked out that you would freeze. But Lulu, you went to Shadybrook. You did the work. You are fully recovered. Everything you're going through now, it's because Theo Hoffman drugged you. It is not some manifestation of insanity like you think it is."

I shook my head in disagreement. Johnny was obviously choosing to jump on the bandwagon with everybody else in my life. I loved them for caring – for wanting to believe the best in me. But I knew that if I didn't face the truth, I was only going to hurt them. I watched my mother deteriorate in front of my eyes. I did not want my child to go through the same thing.

"Lulu…"

I turned around and looked at Robin, who was putting her coat on as she spoke.

"There's been a fire at your apartment building. We have to go."

_**Dante's POV**_

I sat in the waiting room at General Hospital with a pit in my stomach. It should not have been a surprise to me that Theo Hoffman would have made his move the day I was thrown off of the police force. But when Michael and I turned the corner to go home and saw the fire trucks and squad cars lining our street, I was shocked. Remembering the sight of the stretcher come out with a body bag made me sick to my stomach.

"Dante…"

I knew that Lulu had been safe at Maxie's bachelorette party, but seeing her in front of me now calmed my nausea. I stood up quickly and pulled her into my arms.

"Abby was at home," she told me frantically, "I told her to stay home. Where is she?"

"They brought her in by ambulance," I answered, still not ready to let her go. "Michael just went to see if he could get an update."

"They said on the radio that there was a fatality."

"Mark," I answered before she could ask. My father's employee had died of smoke inhalation while he was guarding Abby. I had never spoken to the man more than getting an update on Abby and Lulu's safety, but knowing that he had died and it could have been Abby made me grieve for him.

"Oh no," she whispered, turning her face toward my neck and catching her breath to keep from crying harder. I reached my hand up and ran it along her back. We stood silently for several moments until she asked the question that had been running through my mind for the last hour. "Was it Theo?"

"I know that it was," I answered her. "I'm just waiting for the investigation to get there."

"Shouldn't you be helping with the investigation?" she asked, pulling back enough to look into my eyes. "I can stay here with Michael."

"I can't," I admitted. "I uh… I got suspended today."

"What? Why?"

"Mac told me to stop investigating Theo. I won't until Theo is locked up for good, so he took my badge. He thinks I'm too distracted to do the job," I explained, running my thumb along her cheek to brush away a tear. "But I don't want you to worry about it. I'm still going to track him down. He's not going to do anything else to hurt us."

I looked over Lulu's shoulder and saw Ronnie approaching us. He had a file in his hands, which I knew would be the arson report. I silently prayed that he would find something to indicate foul play.

"What does it say?" I asked him, my words causing Lulu to turn around and face him as well. "Can we prove that Theo was involved?"

"The fire was caused by a candle left burning near the couch in your loft," Ronnie answered. I noticed his gaze move to Lulu and immediately shook my head. This could not be happening again. How was it that every move Theo made was so well executed that nobody believed it was him behind it?

"No, that's not possible," Lulu argued. "I was home before I went to the Haunted Star. I didn't light any candles."

"You remember all of it?" Ronnie questioned, his voice oozing with suspicion.

"Don't go there," I warned him.

"Dante, we all know that Lulu has been forgetting stuff lately," Ronnie continued. "It's a pretty open and shut case."

"I have to go check on Abby," she whispered, brushing past me and heading to the nurses' station. I could tell from the tone of her voice that she doubted herself. I looked to Ronnie and lowered my voice, making use that he heard every word I had to say.

"Lulu is not responsible for this. Theo Hoffman is. Now I see this playing out two ways – you can either consider the possibility that Theo is behind this and take him down once and for all, or you can take the easy way out and close the case by falsely asserting that Lulu did this. Either way, I will not let that bastard get near my family again."

(One hour later)

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally found Lulu sitting in the hospital chapel. She was sitting in the front pew, running her hand absentmindedly along her stomach. I stood and watched her for a moment, praying that we would be able to move past all of this insanity before I lost her to her own fear.

"Abby is going to be fine," I told her, moving into the room and taking a seat next to her. "She has to stay overnight for observation, but Robin says that she only suffered minor smoke inhalation."

"That's good," Lulu muttered, keeping her gaze forward and away from me. "I didn't get her killed this time."

"Lulu, this is not your fault."

"You don't know that. Neither do I," she started, finally turning to look at me. "We both do know that I could be getting worse. Maybe I lose time now and don't even realize it. Poor Abby has been in the hospital twice because of my insanity."

"Stop it," I replied firmly, pulling her hands into mine. "You are not crazy, Lulu. You told me you didn't light a candle, and I believe that. You need to believe it, too."

"You should not be okay with this," she insisted, "Because next time, it could be after the baby is born. What if I lose time and forget to feed him or her? Or leave the oven on? Or forget the baby altogether?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"You don't know! I am a danger to others, Dante! Abby is proof of that!"

I put my hands on her cheeks and steadied her gaze on me. I did not believe for a moment that she would endanger our baby. Theo Hoffman was behind all of it, and I needed her to see that before the stress really did make her lose her mind.

"The only way you are endangering our baby is by doubting yourself. Maybe you don't believe it, but I _know_ that you did not leave a candle lit in our loft tonight. Theo is doing a damn good job of making everyone believe that this is about you having some sort of breakdown, but I won't let him hide behind that bullshit. I love you. I know that you are not crazy, and I will never doubt that. So if you don't want to believe in yourself, that's fine. I will believe in you enough for the both of us."

I leaned forward and brushed my lips against hers before resting her forehead against mine.

"I swear to you, badge or no badge, I am going to find Theo and make him leave us alone."


	8. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER EIGHT**_

_**Dante's POV**_

_**April 2012**_

I ran my fingers along the sonogram picture in my hands wistfully. The room smelled of gunpowder and dust, and the floor beneath me was hard as a rock. I hated being there when I had a woman I loved and a baby on the way back in Port Charles. I had to focus on the image in front of me to keep myself calm enough to wait for Jason's return without giving up on our plan and heading outside to find Theo myself.

Spinelli tracked some of Theo's money to a small town in Italy the week before. As soon as he reported his findings to me, I knew that I had to get on a plane and find the bastard myself. Sonny insisted that I bring Spinelli and Jason along for the trip. I hated that Jason was doing all of the groundwork while I sat with Spinelli in a warehouse and waited. But focusing on my baby helped keep me grounded.

Lulu was amazing when I told her I was leaving. She had been amazing through the entire ordeal. She supported my efforts to track Theo, even after I lost my job, our loft and everything in it. We had to move in with my mother and Steve because her salary would not cover all of the medical bills piling up and rent. She took it all in stride, all the while fearing for her sanity.

I never questioned Lulu's sanity. Even her brothers were getting concerned that she was having some sort of breakdown. But Theo was a sadistic maniac. I knew that he was behind everything, and I needed to expose him for the evil he was before the stress on Lulu really did drive her insane.

"The Blonde One is scheduled to see the Deliverer of Wee Ones at 2 p.m."

Spinelli's announcement brought me relief. I asked him to hack into General Hospital's computer to make sure that Lulu was going in for her now weekly appointment with Dr. Lee. Maxie's wedding was the next day, and I knew that she was likely rushing around town trying to get all of the last minute details completed. I could not call her because I didn't want Theo to know where I was, so Spinelli's expertise came in handy. I just wanted to know that they were alright.

"Thanks, Spinelli," I sighed, folding the sonogram picture in half and sticking it back safely into my wallet. "I was really hoping that I would be back for that appointment."

"Do not despair, Expectant Patriarch. Stone Cold will determine whether or not the Balkan is in the vicinity today. If he is not, we will soon return to Port Charles."

"I would rather go back knowing that Theo was out of the picture."

At this point, after all of the terror Theo had caused, a small part of me hoped Jason would find him without me and dispose of him. I never imagined I would feel that way. But if it meant keeping my family safe, I would do anything.

When Jason walked into the warehouse, his stoic expression was unchanged. I knew that his search had come up empty.

"Nothing?" I asked in frustration, standing up and running my hand through my hair.

"He's gone," Jason announced. "I found a few of his guys in the house Spinelli tracked back to Theo, but they were dead. He knew we were coming."

_**Lulu's POV**_

"You know, when Dante asked if I could stay with you while he was out of town, I don't think he expected you to accompany me to an appointment with my OB," I told Lucky as we waited in an exam room for Dr. Lee.

"Don't even try it, Leslie Lu," he replied, playing with one of the stirrups on the bed while I walked the perimeter of the room. "You and I both know that whatever Dr. Lee tells you will likely go through the filter in your brain that takes out all the bad news before reporting it out to Dante. I am here as his friend. Besides, I really want to see my little nephew."

"Or niece," I corrected. I would have loved to know the sex of the baby, but Olivia made us promise to keep it a surprise. It was some sort of Falconeri family tradition. "And please don't try to trick Dr. Lee into telling us the sex. Olivia will freak out."

"Since when do you care so much about tradition?" 

"Nothing else about this pregnancy is anywhere near conventional. I guess it's kind of nice to go along with it to make Olivia happy. She's really excited."

"Are you?"

As if on cue, the baby kicked me hard as soon as the question escaped Lucky's mouth. I winced a little and put my hand to my abdomen, rubbing away the pain. Most people would never ask me if I was excited about having a baby because it was simply assumed. Lucky knew me better. He knew that the Spencer in me was apprehensive. I was grateful when Dr. Lee walked in the room so that I would not have to explain to my brother that while I was excited to have a baby, I was terrified that I would be a horrible mother.

The exam took about twenty minutes, but I was not paying much attention to Dr. Lee's words. I was running through a mental checklist of everything that needed to be finished before Maxie's wedding the next day and wondering whether or not Dante would make it home for the ceremony. I knew that I was not going to be able to call him while he was out of the country, but I had hoped he would be home by now.

"Lulu, everything looks great. You're progressing just as you should," Dr. Lee's words brought me back to the present. "You can expect to have some more Braxton Hicks contractions over the next week, but that's normal. The only concern I have is that you are running a low grade fever. But I'll send a nurse in to give you an antibiotic injection before you leave."

I nodded my head and looked at my brother with a knowing grin on my face. "There you go, Lucky. You can report back to your friend that I have nothing to hide."

Later that night, as I laid on the pullout couch in Lucky's living room, my mind was racing. I kept replaying all of the events of the past several months over and over again in my head. The accident, the baby gifts from Theo, the fire… was it really possible that I was innocent in all of that? I had gone a few weeks without any symptom of what I thought was my breakdown. Patrick thought that his drug therapy was helping, which was a relief, however I hoped that it would stick. I did not want to risk losing my mind after the baby was born.

The baby was apparently feeling my anxiety. I felt another sharp pain in my abdomen. The first one I had felt that night was right in the middle of Maxie's wedding rehearsal. Right after Dante left, I started to feel contractions and panicked. Dr. Lee explained that it was only false labor, but that did not make it hurt any less.

"Okay, kid," I whispered, "I need you to calm down just enough for me to sleep. It's a really big day tomorrow."

I turned onto my side and took a deep breath. "I hope your dad makes it back in time."

The wedding ceremony had been gorgeous and romantic, just as Maxie had intended for it to be. The gardens outside of the church were perfect as the scenery for Dr. and Mrs. Matt Hunter to exchange their vows. All of the stress of the morning melted off of Maxie's face the moment she met Matt's gaze across the aisle. The beauty of the moment was almost enough to distract me from waiting for word from Dante.

Even if by some miracle I was able to get my focus off of Dante's absence, I was not able to ignore the continuation of the false labor pains I had been experiencing. For a fleeting moment that morning, I thought I was really going into labor. But after a soak in the bathtub, I calmed my nerves and continued getting ready for the wedding.

"Are you alright?"

I turned my attention away from the wedding photographer who was diligently ordering the bride and groom around to my escort for the evening, who just happened to be Dante's stepfather. Matt was not so excited about having two groomsmen, but Maxie refused to dismiss me as her maid of honor or Robin as the matron of honor. Steve was Matt's choice next to Patrick, and luckily Maxie approved.

"Aside from getting ready to ditch the heels, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, for starters, you have checked your phone like fifteen times since the ceremony got finished. I can't help but notice that Dante still isn't back. Oh, and every few minutes, you wince in pain."

"I do not," I covered.

"Lulu, when we were walking back down the aisle, you squeezed my hand so hard that I thought you were going to break it," he argued. "Are you having contractions?"

"Just Braxton Hicks," I admitted. "But I saw Dr. Lee yesterday. She said that everything was good. I think the stress of wondering about Dante is just getting to the baby."

"How far apart are the contractions?"

I cursed myself for forgetting that I was speaking to a doctor who happened to be married to the world's most enthusiastic future grandmother. I was saved from having to lie by Maxie.

"Lulu, get over here! Picture time!"

"Steve, I'm fine, really. Please don't worry."

_**Dante's POV**_

"How long exactly until we land?" I asked Jason, pacing the length of my father's private jet. The only thing that would make the complete failure that was this trip any better would be surprising Lulu by making it to Maxie's wedding reception.

"Probably an hour," Jason sighed. "Can you please just sit down?"

Having no good reason to argue with his request, I took a seat on the couch and closed my eyes. I did not know how to tell Lulu that we were no farther along in our quest to find Theo Hoffman than we had been before I left. I knew that she would be supportive and try to calm me down. But the stress on her had to be affecting her health by this point.

"We will locate the Balkan," Spinelli spoke softly. I was surprised that he cared enough about my frustration to offer any consolation. He had often made it known that I was not his favorite person in the world. "There is no need to fret about your wee one."

"I just hope it's before anyone has to die," I admitted in a whisper.

_**Lulu's POV**_

We arrived at the Metro Court for the reception at the perfect time. I really needed to fade into the background and find a place to sit. The pictures took almost two hours, which was only a blessing because by the time we got to the reception, everybody was already enjoying hors d'oeuvres and music. I would easily be able to sneak off into the restroom and sit down without anybody else asking me if I was alright. My beeline to the ladies' room was impeded when I ran straight into Dillon.

"Oh my God, Lulu, I'm so sorry," he apologized, grabbing my shoulders to steady me when I almost slipped on my heels and fell over. "Are you okay?" 

It took me a minute to steady myself, but I took a deep breath and brushed a piece of hair out of my eye before nodding. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Would you excuse me?"

"Wait, Lulu…" Dillon called immediately after stepping out of my way. "Do you have a second?"

My heart rate was still coming down from my close call with landing on the floor, but I felt guilty that I had basically been avoiding this conversation for months. Dillon had been in the office every single day, but I had been able to avoid talking about the baby and our past altogether.

"Sure, what's up?" 

"I can't help but notice that Dante isn't here," he started, "And you've seemed pretty distracted. Look, I know it's not really any of my business, but just watching you today… I guess, I just… Lulu, I want you to be happy."

I had a feeling that I knew where he was going with the conversation, and my mind went blank. I had thought a lot about the abortion since Dillon had come back into town. It was hard not to imagine what life would have been like if I would have kept that baby. We would have a child in school. I probably would have never started working at _Crimson_ or become friends with Maxie. I definitely would have never met Dante. I was never one to believe in fate or destiny, but I did feel like things turned out the way they should.

In all of my time contemplating, I completely missed the end of Dillon's speech. I felt his lips plunge onto mine and before I could react appropriately, a hard contraction pulsed through my body. I bit down hard and accidentally caught Dillon's lip in my teeth.

"Ow!" he jumped, pulling away from me. I was still in so much pain that I backed against the wall and grabbed my stomach. I tried to catch my breath but it hurt so badly that I felt tears coming into my eyes.

"Lulu, what's wrong?" Dillon asked frantically. I couldn't catch my breath enough to speak, but I looked at him and then down to my stomach. He must have caught on, because he rushed back into the reception. I slid down the floor and tried to breathe through the contraction. I said a silent prayer that this was not real labor. It was way too early, and I was not ready to be a mother.

I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and looked up at Brad, the cameraman who had been working with Dillon on his documentary. He made eye contact with me, but did not seem to be concerned at all. Instead, he reached into his back pocket.

"Are you in labor?" he questioned simply as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out what I hoped would be a cell phone. Instead, I identified the object in his hands as a gun. Before he could say anything, I heard the sound of gunshots coming from inside of the reception, followed immediately by screaming.

He pointed the gun at me. "Up now."

It took me a few extra minutes to get up, but once I did, I felt him move beside me and shove the barrel of the gun into my ribs. A cell phone rang from his pocket, and he used his spare hand to answer it.

"It's working. She's in labor and we'll have the baby by the end of the night."


	9. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER NINE**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

I could not tell if it was from the pain, the fear or another of my episodes, but I blanked out for a few moments. I did not remember being escorted into the reception or dragged to the elevator. What shook me from the fog I was in was a gunshot. At first, I wondered who Brad shot, because I did not feel anything. But then I realized that there were three other gunmen in the Metro Court Restaurant. They were posted in the corners of the room, ensuring that all of the wedding guests did exactly as they wished.

As my eyes scanned the room, I could not locate Max or Milo. Looking down to my feet, I noticed blood on the ground trailing all the way to the elevator. Before I could take another moment to piece the clues together, another contraction ripped through my body. I gasped and bit my lower lip hard while tears formed in my eyes.

"She needs to get to the hospital!" I did not bother looking up because I recognized the voice as Michael's.

Brad did not respond. He just kept slamming his fist against the elevator button. The hum of the elevators that had been keeping my focus for the last few seconds suddenly stopped. I was not the only one to notice, because Brad pressed the barrel of the gun into my ribs harder at that exact moment.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked one of the other gunmen who was standing directly in front of us.

"We disposed of the guards' bodies in the elevator. It should be back up by now."

"Obviously it is not!" Brad screamed, tightening his grip on my arm. I cried out in pain, unable to hold it in anymore. "Will you just shut up!"

"Leave Lulu alone," Michael demanded. This time, I looked up to find him. He was standing in front of Abby protectively. I could tell by the look in his eye that he was ready to take matters into his own hands. "She's in labor. Just let someone take her to the hospital. You can take me for whatever you need. I'm Sonny Corinthos' son."

"You think we don't know that?" Brad questioned. "As lucrative as you would be, our boss is only interested in the baby. The rest of you are expendable."

I opened my mouth to tell Michael to back off, but another contraction rocked my body. "Ah!"

_**Dante's POV**_

_****_As soon as we stepped off of the plane, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on. I had the plan all worked out in my head. I would run home and change into a tux, and then head straight to the Metro Court to enjoy the end of Maxie's wedding reception with Lulu. I wanted to give her one night of pure enjoyment before I had to tell her that we were back to square one in our search for Theo.

She had put off so many things, waiting for all of the danger to come to a conclusion. She refused to allow my mother to throw her a baby shower or look at baby names. She insisted that there would be plenty of time for us to do that together after Theo was behind bars. With only nine weeks left until her due date, I prayed that I would be able to find that time for her. I wanted our baby to come into the world knowing that he or she was wanted, which meant we needed to go through all of the conventional planning steps.

Sonny had been waiting for us in a limo parked outside of the private hanger at the airport. Noticing I had two voicemails, I got into the back of the car while punching in my pin. I acknowledged my father with a nod when I took a seat across from him and listened to the first message.

"_Dante, it's Lucky. We just got done with Dr. Lee, and I wanted to let you know that Lulu and the baby are fine. The kid's actually pretty cute, as far as I can tell. Let me know if there's anything I can help you with and we'll see you soon."_

I felt much better knowing that Lulu and the baby were alright. Jason and Spinelli got in the car and the driver pulled away. I pressed a button to save the voicemail and jumped when the second message began. All I could hear was screaming, and then what sounded like gunshots. Everything was muffled.

"What is it?" Sonny asked with concern. He must have seen the worry on my face.

"I got a strange voicemail," I explained, restarting the message and listening closer. I recognized the number it came from as Michael's. Then came the screams, gunshots, and finally what sounded like Michael's voice. I could only make out one word. _"Lulu."_

_**Lulu's POV**_

"How close together are her contractions?" Patrick asked Brad from his location nearly 15 feet away from us at the head table. He was seated next to Robin, Matt and Maxie, who all looked terrified.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Brad replied. "I don't really care. All I need to do is get her to the boss so he can have the kid. Beyond that, I don't give a damn."

"The elevator is stalled," one of the other gunmen spoke up. "I don't think we're getting out that way."

"So we'll take the stairs," Brad answered quickly, yanking me up onto my feet as I struggled to stay upright.

"You're not going to make it very far," Patrick informed them. "Lulu's going to deliver pretty soon. And, as I'm sure you're well aware, the baby is premature. Delivering a newborn is dangerous in the best of circumstances, and this is pretty much the worst. So unless one of you is a doctor, I suggest you let us help."

I looked up at Patrick with tears in my eyes, sending him a silent thank you when Brad let me drop to the floor so he could gather his group together for discussion. I pulled myself up so that I could lean against the wall and tried to breathe through my rapidly accelerating contractions. The intruders could have been speaking for only minutes or several hours. My perception was skewed by the thoughts whirling through my head.

Theo did not want to kill me. All of this was some sort of game for him to take the baby. He wanted to raise Sonny's grandchild as his own. I closed my eyes and tried to will the baby to stay put long enough for us to get out of that situation.

_**Dante's POV**_

"You can't just run in there."

I released my grip on the door handle to the Metro Court long enough to look back at Jason. "You saw the same footage on Spinelli's laptop that I did. There are gunmen in there holding up an entire wedding reception, which includes my mother, my brother and my pregnant girlfriend. I'm not sitting here and waiting."

"We only saw four gunmen," Jason continued, handing me a gun. "If we do this the right way, we can take them all out. But you need to get your emotions in check before you just run in there with a gun in your hands. Cop or not, you are not in the right state of mind to go in solo."

I took the gun from him and shoved it beneath my belt. His logic made sense in my head, but my heart was telling me to get upstairs as fast as I could. Even if I still had my badge, protocol would have been the last thing on my mind. My father came up behind Jason and looked at me with sympathy in his eyes.

"Spinelli is continuing to monitor the situation. I have a call into the Metro Court security. They're locking down the exits, so nobody is leaving."

I turned and led them through the lobby, which was eerily empty. Word must have gotten out about the situation upstairs, but not too long ago. There were not any police officers around, so I assumed that if there had been a call put in to 911, it must have been pretty recent. I opened the door to use the staircase, but Sonny grabbed my shoulder before I could start climbing up to the restaurant.

"Dante, don't let this get out of hand. If things get hairy, you grab Lulu and get out, understood?"

"And let you fight my battle for me? I'm going to make this bastard pay once and for all."

_**Lulu's POV**_

I noted the time on the clock across the room as my contraction faded. I wished I would have read the baby books that Olivia had given me, because if I had, I would probably have a clue what was happening. There were a lot of things that I wished I would have done before that point. I should have bought a crib and registered for baby presents. I definitely should have taken the time to tell Dante that I wanted the baby to have his last name. We should have found a new place to live and painted a nursery. I was sure that I was not ready to be a mother.

"I feel like I have to push," I spoke up when another contraction hit me hard. I was not sure who I was even speaking to. "God, how do I make this stop?"

"Shut up!" Brad screamed, pointing his gun in my face. "I can't think with you whining like that."

"We are in a room full of doctors," Olivia spoke up. I could hear from her tone that she had been crying. "Will you just let one of them help her?"

"We are not staying long enough to need the help!" Brad answered, pointing his gun to Olivia as he spoke. "Now you shut up too."

I opened my eyes and scanned the room, hoping to get a glimpse of Olivia to reassure her. Instead, my eyes landed upon a door in the corner of the restaurant that led to a staircase. I saw Jason peeking through the small window on that door and felt relief course through my body. If Jason was there, that meant Dante was too.

"I… uh, I think you need to come catch this baby, Brad," my voice shook as I tried to create a diversion. I prayed that it would be enough to let Jason resolve the situation. "I think it's coming."

"I definitely did not sign up for that," Brad shook his head, turning his attention from Olivia back to me. "You do it, Paul."

"Don't look at me."

"Are you both insane?" another intruder questioned, approaching them as they conversed five feet in front of me. "The boss is going to freak if that baby is not in mint condition upon delivery."

I leaned my head back against the wall and braced myself. I had to keep them distracted just long enough for Jason and Dante to get in the room and stop them. I screamed, overemphasizing the strength of my contraction to get their attention.

_**Dante's POV**_

It all happened so fast. I had no idea what made Jason rush into the room when he did, but I followed his lead, drawing my gun as soon as we moved. I heard shots, but for the first time in my career, I froze in place. I took in the sounds of screaming all around us, the bullet casings hitting the floor, but I couldn't react. It wasn't until the gunmen fell to the ground bleeding that I snapped out of it.

I surveyed the room when it became quiet, saying a prayer of thanksgiving when I realized that the only people on the ground bleeding were Theo's gunmen. I was still holding my gun out in front of me when I felt my mother rush over to me and throw her arms around me.

"Oh, baby, thank God you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you? Are you alright?" I questioned, looking her over for any signs of injury.

Before she answered, I saw her eyes cross the room. I followed her gaze to Steve, who was kneeling beside Lulu while Robin and Patrick approached them. "Is she…"

"She's in labor," my mother answered before I could complete the question. "From the impression Brad gave us, they gave her some kind of drug to induce labor."

I handed my mother the gun and pushed my way through the crowd until I was at Lulu's side. Mascara and tears were stained across her cheeks. She looked up at me, but was unable to speak before she bit her lip and cried out in pain. When Spinelli had pulled up the security footage, I had seen Lulu standing with the gunman. I never imagined she would be having the baby.

"I was timing the contractions as much as I could from watching her," Robin told Steve. "From what I can tell, they're about three minutes apart."

"Wha-What does that mean?" I asked, taking Lulu's hand in mine and wincing at the ferocity with which she squeezed. "Can you stop the labor? Because she's only 31 weeks along. It's too early."

Patrick pulled out his cell phone and stepped away before Steve answered me. "I think that labor has progressed too far for that. We'll get a squad here as soon as possible so that we can try to make it to the hospital in time."

"I can make it stop," Lulu panted, "Really, Steve, I can. Just tell me how." 

Nothing about her determination surprised me. If there were a way for her to keep the baby safe for a few more weeks, I knew she would do it. But as Jason and Sonny started moving wedding guests into the staircase to give us some privacy, I realized that was not an option. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. "You're worried that we won't get to GH before the baby comes?"

"Robin, can you examine Lulu? Dante, can I have a word?"

I turned to Lulu for her silent approval before releasing her hand, standing and following Steve out of her earshot. My new stepfather was obviously shaken up. The frown on his face gave him away.

"We can't stop labor," he started, "And there's a good chance Lulu's going to have this baby right here. Moving her at this point could put too much stress on her body. I've delivered babies much sooner than 31 weeks, but not in a hotel restaurant. What's going to be most important is keeping Lulu calm, which is where you come in. I get that you're terrified, but you have to keep it together, okay?"

"I can do that," I promised, praying to God that I could actually do it.

By the time the ambulance arrived, Lulu was already pushing. The paramedics assisted Steve and Robin as they coached her through each contraction. I noticed a portable incubator being set up across the room, but tried to keep Lulu's attention off of it by counting out loud for her.

I had seen women give birth in movies, but watching Lulu go through it did not compare. She was obviously in a lot of pain, but she kept going, even when she could barely breathe. I encouraged her as much as I could, repeating over and over how much I loved her and how amazing she was, even after she told me to stop trying to make her feel better. The truth was, I needed to say it even if she didn't. I had to feel like I was contributing in some way.

"Okay, Lulu, I see the head," Robin announced. "One more big push should do it."

Every horrible thing that we had gone through up until that point became completely irrelevant. I brought her hand up to my mouth and kissed it softly while she poured every ounce of energy she had left into the labor. The next several minutes became a complete blur to me. I must have heard Steve announce that it was a girl and cut the umbilical cord, but it took the sound of my daughter's first cry to bring me back to reality.

I looked over to Lulu, who was emotional and exhausted. There were a million things I wanted to say to her in that moment. But when I opened my mouth, I was even surprised by the words that came out.

"Marry me."


	10. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER TEN**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

I opened my eyes slowly, the weight of exhaustion making it more difficult than normal. I heard the persistent beeping of the heart monitor near my bed and realized that it must not have been some awful nightmare. There really were gunmen who came into Maxie's wedding reception. I had, in fact, gone into premature labor. I was a mother.

I moved my hand to my abdomen for reassurance. The paramedics took the baby before I held her, which seemed almost cruel. How was I supposed to feel like a mom if I couldn't even touch my child? Most women probably didn't need that tangible proof. But I was not most women. I was a Spencer, which meant that I was genetically predetermined to have to work hard to be a good parent. Lucky managed to do it, so I would do my best to follow through.

I knew that I would not be doing it alone. Dante was an incredible man who would never take being a parent lightly. He was in it for the long run, so much so that he actually said the words _marry me_. Part of me was relieved that the paramedics wasted no time in loading me onto a stretcher, because I had no idea how to answer him.

I had not been discrete in my feelings about marriage. Nobody in my life had figured out how to make it work, and while for some people like Maxie and Olivia, the fear didn't stop them from going for it, I was definitely not like them. I was like Lucky and my dad. Their track record with marriage spoke for itself.

Still, I loved Dante with everything I had. We were bonded forever now through our daughter. But if he was worried about staying in her life, he had no reason. Married or not, we would never let any issues between us get in the way of raising a child. We both knew what it was like to have an absentee parent. We agreed that we did not want that for our baby.

I pulled myself to sit up straighter in bed when the door opened. Abby stepped inside with a large bouquet of daisies in her hands. "Are you up for company?"

"Please," I told her, "But please bring those flowers to someone who is sick. I'm fine."

"You gave birth on the floor of the hotel restaurant this morning, Lulu," she argued, placing the flowers on the ledge by the window before moving to the chair next to my bed. "Surrounded by gunmen, no less. I think you're worthy of some flowers."

"So it did really happen," I replied. "I was just sitting here debating whether or not it had been some awful dream."

"It's not all that awful when you get a beautiful baby girl at the end."

"Have you seen her? Is she alright? I just woke up. I haven't gotten an update."

"We ran into Sonny in the hallway. He said that the doctors are really amazed at how well she is doing."

"Thank God," I exhaled. "How is everyone else? The gunmen… are they?"

"Don't think about them," Abby answered, which told me that they were dead. "Max and Milo are both stable now."

"Good," I nodded, pulling the blankets up on the bed when I felt a chill. Thinking about the fallout of everything had not been my priority upon waking up, but there was a good chance that Dante could be on the hook for murder along with Sonny and Jason. We all knew it was defense, but Mac might not be so quick to jump to that conclusion. "What about Maxie? Her wedding didn't exactly turn out the way she hoped."

"Hey, stop worrying," Abby reassured me. "Matt finally convinced her that it was alright to go on their honeymoon. I promised her updates on you and the baby. Seriously, Lulu, all you should be thinking about is your new family."

"Dante proposed." The words came out of my mouth quicker than I realized what I was confiding in her.

"What? Oh my God, congratulations!"

"Not so fast. I didn't answer him," I informed her. "He said it right after the baby was born, and the paramedics got in the way so quickly."

"But you are going to tell him yes, right?" Abby questioned. "Lulu, you're not considering turning him down?"

"I don't know," I admitted softly. "I truly have no idea."

_**Dante's POV**_

Mesmerized. There was no other word for what that baby girl did to me. I looked past the tubes and the monitors and focused on her short, dark hair and ten tiny fingers. She had all of the best of me and Lulu. It seemed so strange to me that I woke up that morning without knowing what she looked like. I felt like I should have known that little girl my whole life.

"I'm sorry that you don't have a name yet," I told her, staring down into the incubator in front of me. "You know, it's just that we didn't know you'd be here so fast. But we'll figure it out soon, I promise."

"You listen to your dad. Because he's pretty good at keeping his promises," Michael remarked from behind me. I turned to my brother and embraced him, relieved that he made it through the ordeal of the day without taking matters into his own hands and landing himself back in Pentonville.

"Thanks for coming."

"Are you kidding? I've got four other uncles to outdo," he remarked, handing me a pink gift bag. "I had no choice but to get in here early and get a head start on spoiling my brand new little niece."

He moved past me and put his hand on the incubator. "She's so tiny."

"Four pounds, one ounce," I clarified. "Steve says that's really good for a preemie her age."

"So does she have to be in this thing long?"

"They're monitoring her for a little bit. Steve told me that we can probably hold her for short periods of time if she can keep her own body temperature warm enough. I guess it all depends on how strong she is."

"Well, I've met her parents, so I don't think you have much to worry about when it comes to strength."

I knew that Michael was trying to make me feel better, but he had no idea how much he was exaggerating. Strong was the last thing I was feeling. I should have been there sooner to notice Lulu's labor before it got too far. If nothing else, I should have found Theo Hoffman and stopped him.

"Did Jason tell you about our trip?"

Michael nodded, keeping his eye contact on the baby. "Dante, there was nothing you guys could have done. We'll find Theo." 

"What if we don't? How am I supposed to keep Lulu and this baby safe if every single person in this town could be mixed up with Theo?"

"Brad was a bit of a shock," Michael admitted. "And it's more than a little unnerving that he's been filming Abby and Lulu for months. But I don't think you have to worry about everybody in Port Charles."

"Brad worked with Dillon, so who knows what he is up to," I argued. "And somebody on this hospital staff gave Lulu something to induce labor. So forgive me for being worried about my daughter being in here for weeks when we can't even trust the staff."

"Dad and Jason are not leaving here without someone they trust posted at the door," he reassured me. "And we'll talk to Dillon. You need to stop worrying about Theo for a few days and keep your energy focused on taking care of Lulu and…"

He looked at the tag on the incubator before continuing. "Baby girl Spencer."

"She is getting a name," I insisted.

"One that ends in Spencer? Or Falconeri? Or Spencer-Falconeri?"

Michael had been pretty vocal in his opposition to my putting the proposal on hold after we found out Lulu was pregnant. He was quick to tell me that I was irrational in trying to give Lulu more time to adjust. "I know where you're going with this and don't worry. My big mouth already took care of it."

When he finally looked at me, I could see the confusion in his face.

"I sort of asked Lulu to marry me right before the paramedics loaded her and the baby into squads to come here."

"Well, if you weren't going with the New York City plan you worked on for months, I guess that's a close second," he remarked sarcastically. "What did she say?"

"Nothing. She told me I should stay with the baby, and that was it. I wasn't even sure that she heard me, but she seemed pretty stunned."

"And let me guess," he continued, "You haven't seen her since?"

"Right."

I had actually been avoiding Lulu since we had arrived at the hospital. I didn't know if I should take it back or not. I really did want to marry her, but my timing was awful. We had just gone through this immensely emotional day and were worried about our daughter. Steve kept assuring me that the baby was going to be alright, but that relief was not going to solve all of the issues we were facing.

I was still unemployed, and after four men died at the hands of Jason and my father, I was probably going to have a much more difficult time getting my badge back. Our loft had burned down, so the few possessions we had left were staying with us in my mother's guest room. We had to purchase baby furniture and pay all of the medical bills that were piling up. A wedding at this point was out of the question.

"I'll sit with Baby Girl here," Michael told me. "Go talk to Lulu."

_**Lulu's POV**_

I pushed the tray of hospital food in front of me to the side. Epiphany insisted that I would not be allowed to get up until I got some food in me, but I did not consider orange Jello and chicken broth food. Besides, what mother would deprive a new mom like me from seeing her baby just because I didn't want to choke down hospital food?

"I had a feeling you weren't going to eat what they gave you here."

I felt a smile form on my lips when I looked to the door and saw Dante come in with a bag from Kelly's. He looked tired but content, which calmed my fears about the baby. If he had something bad to tell me, he would not be bringing food to soften the blow.

"French fries?" I asked hopefully, moving over in bed to clear space for him. He sat down and set the bag on my lap.

"Of course. I had to stuff the bag in my jacket to get it past Epiphany."

"Thanks. But I'm surprised you left the hospital. Is the baby…?"

"My ma has hardly left the NICU all day," he interrupted. "She ordered me to go get something to eat. I figured you were probably under the same restriction."

"Abby said that the doctors were optimistic about the baby. Is she healthy?"

"She's remarkable. She's four pounds, one ounce, but she is fighting so hard. Steve told me that she surpassed his expectation for a child born at 31 weeks."

I noticed how he became wistful when he talked about her. I could tell he was already wrapped around her little finger. It made me love him even more than I had the last time I saw him, which I was keenly aware, was when he proposed. I felt horrible that I had not given him an answer yet.

"Will you just eat one of those fries already so that I can sneak you out of here in good conscience?"

I obliged and ate more than a couple of the fries before we left my room and went to the NICU. We stood outside the door while Dante pulled a gown over his arms and handed one to me. I have no idea why it had not hit me before that moment, but I was suddenly terrified of going inside and seeing our daughter in a plastic box connected to tubes and machines. I choked back tears unsuccessfully before having difficulty breathing altogether.

"Hey, don't do that," Dante soothed, putting a hand on my cheek to steady my gaze. "I know this is not how we pictured it, but she's our daughter, Lulu. She is going to get bigger and stronger, and then we will take her home." 

"I-I can't," I shook my head, tears now pouring down my cheeks. "I can't be strong for her. I'm not strong. If I were strong, s he would not be here yet. I should have been able to stop the labor. I could have at least admitted to Steve sooner that I was having contractions."

Instead of arguing with me, Dante took my hand and pulled me into a quieter hallway. He kissed my forehead, then my cheeks, then my lips. I could taste my tears, but that did not stop me from letting him kiss me long enough to distract me from my fears. When he finally released me, his lips were swollen.

"Wha-"

"Lulu, I watched you earlier today going through hell. I don't know anybody else who could have done that and made it look so easy. I love you because you are the strongest person I know. Now put on that gown so that you can meet our baby girl."

Still in a fog from the kiss, I followed his instructions and let him lead me into the NICU. The moment I laid eyes on her, I felt stupid for panicking. She was breathtaking. She had Dante's dark complexion and my nose. "We did this. We made her."

"Yes we did."

I spent several minutes quietly taking her in. There were tubes hooked up to her mouth and arms, but it was not as terrible as I had pictured it. I counted her fingers and toes, relieved to find ten of each.

"Can we hold her?"

"Hopefully soon," Dante answered. When I looked up at him, he was not looking at the baby, rather staring at me.

"What?" I asked softly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

_**Dante's POV**_

"I just… I thought I knew what it was to love you, but it's so much deeper now," I admitted. I had been trying to figure out why I picked such a ridiculous time to ask her to marry me, but at that moment, I got it. Watching Lulu with our daughter was so amazing, it was almost surreal.

"We should probably pick out a name," Lulu continued, responding to my statement by blushing. "Do you have any ideas?"

I was a little disappointed that she had yet to acknowledge my proposal, but I was not about to bring it up. We were both on emotional overload, and as much as I meant it, I refused to push it. If Lulu wanted to marry me, she would have said something. At least I assumed she would.

"Unfortunately, not really," I conceded. "Do you?"

"I was kind of hoping that looking at her would help, but the only thing I know for sure is that I don't want to mess it up. What goes with Falconeri?"

"Are you sure you want it to be Falconeri?" I questioned, a little surprised that it didn't require more conversation.

"You're her father," she answered simply. "It's only right. Besides, it's not fair to make a kid hyphenate their name."

"True," I agreed. "So for now, it's Baby Girl Falconeri. I'll ask my mom to bring us some of those baby name books. I'm sure she's already purchased dozens."

"Thanks," she smiled at me before sitting down next to the incubator and putting her fingers against the plastic. I pulled a chair up next to her and put my hand over hers, curling my fingers between hers.

"We didn't find Theo," I admitted. It was not the most appropriate time to bring it up, but I needed to get all of the cards out on the table. "And I know that he wants to take her to get revenge on my father. Lulu, I swear to both of you that I won't let that happen."

"I know," she told me simply, leaning her head on my shoulder. "All we need to focus on now is getting our baby girl healthy and bringing her home."

I wished that it were really that simple.


	11. Chapter 11

_**CHAPTER ELEVEN**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

The pouring rain outside was small motivation to follow Olivia's orders to leave the hospital and get a good night's sleep. My daughter was one week old, and I had yet to leave the hospital. They had discharged me after two nights, but I was able to pull some strings with Patrick and Robin to get permission to stay in an on-call room.

Sonny, Jason, Michael and Lucky had taken turns guarding the NICU while Max and Milo recovered. Sonny insisted that he would not trust anybody else to watch over his granddaughter. Lucky felt the same, although he had to do it off the clock. Mac was under a lot of pressure from the D.A. to back off of Theo Hoffman until there was concrete evidence to support he had committed a crime. Unfortunately, without being able to investigate his crimes officially, nobody was getting to that point.

I knew that the baby would be safe. There was no way that anyone would get past the horde of family members that were constantly around to visit. But I worried that if Theo was not stopped soon, Dante was going to go over the edge. He would not admit it to me, but I could sense his growing stress. Every moment that he was not sitting in the NICU, he was working with Sonny and Jason to track Theo. I was pretty sure that he had not slept more than two hours at a time all week.

I stepped away from the vending machine with a Styrofoam cup full of tea in my hands. I didn't need to go home to sleep. I would feel much better if I stayed at General Hospital. Sleep could wait until we brought our daughter home.

"Lulu… wait up."

I turned around and stopped my trek to the NICU when Brenda called out to me. She had sent a basket full of baby gifts, but I had not spoken to her in person since giving birth. She sensed how I felt about her, and I only hoped that she was not going to push Olivia's agenda about my leaving.

"Dr. Webber just told me that the baby can probably go home in a few more weeks," she started. "That's great news."

"We're hopeful," I nodded.

"Yeah, definitely. Look, I won't waste a bunch of your time, because I know that you want to get back to your daughter. I just wanted to let you know that Sonny and I have been talking a lot about you, Dante and the baby. We know that Olivia and Steve's place is really small, and with Dante not working, it's probably going to take a little time for you to find a new place. So, you know, if you would be willing, we'd love for you all to stay with us. I can change one of the spare rooms into a nursery, and you and Dante could have the adjoining room."

"That's very…" I paused, trying to find the right word, "_generous_ of you. I just think it means a lot to Olivia that we'll be staying with her."

"I totally understand," Brenda answered quickly. She almost seemed disappointed that I was turning her down. I did not think that would be a surprise to her. Even if there was no awkwardness between us, Dante and Sonny were far from father and son of the year. "The offer is always on the table, though."

_**Dante's POV**_

"She needs a name."

I rolled my eyes at my mother's remark, but kept my hands in the small gloves on the side of the incubator. My daughter was getting stronger every day. She was holding my fingers, and it was going to take a hell of a lot to get me to give that feeling up.

My mother's words had practically been her mantra for a week now, as if I had no idea that it was getting to the point of ridiculous that we were still calling her _Baby Girl_. Lulu and I had been trying to work on the name thing, but between family visits and consultations with doctors, we seemed to lack the time to really delve into it.

"What, you're not a fan of baby girl? I thought it would be really unique," I remarked sarcastically.

"Very nice, but that's not gonna fly with me," she responded harshly. "Just because you're someone's dad now doesn't mean you aren't still my son. I still know what's best for you, boy."

"Don't I know it," I grinned at her.

"So come on now, just give my gorgeous little granddaughter a name already. Cause everyone in town has seen her picture, and they're starting to ask about what to call her."

"What is it that you always used to tell me when I got impatient? Oh, yeah, good things come to those who wait."

"Oh, I see how you're gonna play it," she laughed. "All it takes is one call to Nikolas. I will get Lulu's mother on the phone so quickly, and you will be outnumbered."

"Can you wait to make that phone call until I've at least had the chance to meet her? I'd hate for her to get the wrong impression right off the bat."

"Mmm," she sighed, "And getting her daughter pregnant without marrying her is the right impression? You need to get to church more often."

"Don't play that card with me," I groaned, watching the baby drift off to sleep and release her hold on my finger. "It's kind of a sensitive subject right now."

That sparked my mother's interest. She pulled a chair up to the opposite side of the incubator and took a seat. "Do tell."

At that point, I did not see the harm in telling my mother about proposing to Lulu. Michael knew, and I was sure that Lulu had probably confided in someone, whether it was her brother or Abby. If it would get her off my back about a name, it would be worth all of the humiliation.

"I sort of asked Lulu to marry me right after the baby was born."

"Sort of?"

"Well, it wasn't as much of a question as it was an order, and it was right before the paramedics brought them here. It was miserable timing. Anyway, she may not even remember, because she hasn't said anything about it since," I shared the theory with her that I had been clinging to for days. It was easier to think that she was too exhausted to remember than that she was terrified and unwilling to discuss marriage.

"Let me guess. You haven't said anything about it either?"

"No," I admitted sheepishly. When it came out of my mother's mouth, it sounded much worse than it was in my head.

"Dante, I know you didn't exactly have a model romance to watch growing up, but Lord knows you watched a number of old black and white movies with me. You should realize that this whole situation is not romantic in the least."

"Look, Ma, romance or not, it's probably better that we haven't gone down that road. I mean, look at us. We're a mess. We can't even pick out a name for our daughter and she's a week old. We're living in your guest room. I don't even have a job! You know, I saw a hospital bill today that was for more than what I used to make in a year! Lulu still worries that she's going crazy, that she'll be a terrible mother. Oh, yeah, and then there's the fact that some homicidal maniac has the idea in his head that he's going to kidnap my baby and raise her as his grandchild! So excuse me for thinking that maybe Lulu's lack of response is some sort of sign from God that it's not the right time."

"Do you really believe that?" she questioned, her tone the same as it was when she used to ask if I was really too sick to go to school when she knew I was stretching it.

"Ma, I have to. I can't handle thinking of it any other way."

"Can't think of what any other way?"

I looked beyond my mother and cringed when I realized Lulu had entered the room. I knew that there was a very slim chance she heard everything I had said to my mother, but I was not quite sure how to cover with her anymore. It was getting harder to keep up the happy new father routine with all of the other concerns that were weighing down on me. Luckily, my mother beat me to the punch.

"I just asked Dante if he was confident that the baby was going to be going home in the next few weeks," she told Lulu. "Speaking of home, didn't I tell you to get yourself there ASAP?"

"I'd rather be here," Lulu explained, bringing a cup of coffee to me and turning her attention to the baby. "I'll have plenty of time to be home after the baby is released."

"You two are one in the same, you know that?" my mother remarked before giving us each a hug. "I'm off to work, alright? But Dante, I'm not kidding about calling in reinforcements if you don't name this precious little angel before I get back, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," I answered, kissing her on the cheek before she left. If there was one person that could always make the worst situations feel a little less serious, it was definitely my mother.

I took a sip of my coffee and looked to Lulu, who had settled into a chair next to me. She had probably not slept much more than I had, but she did not look as tired as I might have expected. I was constantly questioning where she got the energy to keep going.

"What exactly did she mean by bringing in reinforcements?" she asked me with a yawn. "Never mind, I'm sure I don't want to know. Besides, I have to warn you about a conversation you're likely to have with your father."

"What's that?" I questioned cautiously.

"Brenda caught me in the hallway. She wants us to move in with her and Sonny after the baby is discharged. She went on and on about how there is more room there than at your mom's and how she'll make a nursery."

Her tone told me that she was more than a little annoyed by my stepmother's suggestion. I knew that Brenda would probably always be a loaded subject with Lulu, the same way that Sonny was with me. Still, the fact that Lulu was showing her frustration was a small sign of normalcy.

"What did you tell her?"

"That her offer was nice, but your mother is really excited to have us. She was disappointed, but I can't really help that, can I? Anyway, Sonny is probably going to come to you after Brenda tells him that I turned her down."

"I have to admit," I started slowly, "It might not be a horrible idea to stay at Sonny's for awhile."

"You're kidding," she groaned. "Dante, I know that Sonny makes it sound like it's so much safer at his house, but we can have security anywhere."

"Just like there was security at Maxie's wedding reception? Or here at the hospital where you have been drugged not once, but twice? Theo Hoffman can obviously get past the precautions that we have set up."

"So he could get through Sonny's security, too," Lulu argued. Her frustration and annoyance had now escalated into full-blown debate mode. "Look, if you are worried about security at Steve and Olivia's, we can get a room at the Metro Court or stay with Lucky. Or we could call Nikolas and he could set up a whole wing for us at Wyndemere."

"None of those places are as secure as Sonny's house, and you know it," I sighed. "Believe me, my father's house is the last place that I would prefer to bring our baby home to, but we know that the Balkan is after her. We have to make the choice that's best for her."

She stood up and started pacing the exterior of the room. From previous experience, I knew she was just searching for the right words to say. I hated asking her to live with my father and Brenda more than I hated the thought of actually dealing with it myself. However, it was our safest option.

"Look," I told her, stepping in her path and putting my hands on her shoulders to keep her from bumping into me. "It's not going to be forever. We still have a few weeks until we can bring the baby home, and by then, maybe we'll have found Theo."

"And if we haven't?"

"Then getting out of my father's house is just going to be more motivation for me to get rid of the threat."

_**Lulu's POV**_

(Next Morning)

"Have you experienced any memory lapses this week?"

I looked across the exam room at Patrick while he scribbled notes down on my chart. The only benefit of living temporarily at the hospital was that I was able to keep up with my neurology appointments.

"No," I told him. "So what are we up to now? Like three weeks?"

"Four actually," he answered. "It would appear that the drug treatment is effective. What about headaches?"

I shook my head, unable to stop the smile from forming on my lips. For the first time in months, I felt hopeful that I was not losing my mind. I was starting to believe everybody who told me that it was just the drug Theo gave me.

"I think that's the first time that you've ever smiled in one of these appointments," he remarked. "How's motherhood?"

"Surreal," I answered quickly. "I don't have much to do now besides watching her. I mean, the nurses are taking care of the feedings and getting up in the night. I have to remind myself that she's my daughter sometimes."

"I can tell you from experience that it will take a little time for it to feel real," he told me, closing my chart and preparing to leave the room. "Just do yourself a favor and get the rest while you have that army of NICU nurses helping you."

I followed him out of the room and sighed. "Easier said than done… but I'll do my best."

Excited to report my clean bill of health, I rushed back to the NICU. I rounded the corner quickly and gasped when I slammed into Dillon. I had not spoken to him since Maxie's wedding reception. In fact, he had not crossed my mind at all since that night.

"Lulu, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, reaching forward and putting his hands on my back to steady me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine," I exhaled, puzzled as to why his hands were still planted at my back once I was stable. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to meet your daughter," he explained. "They said it was family only in the room, but I saw her through the window. She's really gorgeous, Lulu."

"Thanks," I smiled. Accepting compliments towards my daughter was much easier than accepting them for myself.

"What's her name?"

"Gabriella Grace Falconeri," I announced with pride. Once Dante and I actually sat down to discuss it, we came to a decision pretty quickly.

"Falconeri, huh?"

I could not figure out why people kept questioning my decision to give Gabriella her father's last name. Just because we were not married did not mean that our daughter had to keep my last name. Dillon's question, however, came off even more judgmental, as evidenced by his refusal to remove his hands from me.

"Do you have a problem with that?" I questioned defensively.

"I guess I'm just surprised that you're confident enough to give her his name. I mean, isn't that kind of a risk? Dante has no real commitment to you or the baby. He could take off at any time and leave you to raise her alone."

"That's not going to happen, and I don't really like what you're insinuating." My mind flashed back to the last conversation I had with Dillon. He had been trying to come on to me; he _kissed _me. I had not thought about it since, but as the memory flooded back to me, I felt nauseous.

Dillon had been the object of my infatuation for a really long time. Even after I had the abortion, part of me had wondered what life would have been like if we had kept our baby. But I moved on with my life, and I assumed he had, too. The way he was moving his fingers along my back and looking at me proved otherwise.

"Lulu, you deserve to be happy with someone who can be stable for your daughter. Since I've been back, I have not heard or seen anything from Dante to demonstrate that he can give that to you."

"I love Dante," I affirmed, reaching behind me and pulling his hands off of me. "And it doesn't matter what you think."

"I don't believe you," he insisted, stepping forward to be closer to me. "Just think about it, Lulu. We could have a great life… a life free of bodyguards and Sonny's world. You and Gabriella would be my entire world. I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"Dillon, I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in you like that anymore," I mumbled, feeling guilty. I had gotten the abortion against Dillon's wishes, and he had to be going through a lot seeing me as a mother and knowing that he was never able to meet his child because of my choice. I could see that pain in his eyes beneath his act of confidence. "You're a great guy, but I'm in love with someone else."

He had practically backed me into a corner and there were only inches between us. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against my cheek briefly. "For now."

It wasn't until he left that I finally exhaled, leaning my head back against the wall. Was this the new pattern in my life? At any given moment, good news was followed by another issue that I had seemed to create along the way. I should have sat down to talk to Dillon as soon as he came back to town. If I had, we probably could have achieved closure about everything that happened when we were in high school. Now, it was obviously a little too late for that.


	12. Chapter 12

_**CHAPTER TWELVE**_

_**Dante's POV**_

_**May 2012**_

"Are you sure it's tight enough?" I questioned, glancing in the rearview mirror to verify that the car seat I had installed that morning was secure. The car had only been moving for three minutes at school zone speeds, but I was not above taking any precautions now that my daughter was finally able to come home. "I might have missed a latch or buckle or something. Maybe I should pull over again just to check."

"Don't you dare," Lulu warned me from the back seat. "The nurses said that she's going to need a bottle in an hour, and it might take me forty-five minutes to make it the right way. We can't afford any more stops if you're only going to drive thirteen miles per hour."

"I'm holding steady at 15, baby," I teased, grinning at her in the mirror before returning my attention to the road. "I just think there is validity in taking things slowly with our baby in the car. We've had enough mishaps this year."

Gabriella was now just over a month old, and we had spent every night of that month in General Hospital. In a lot of ways, this was the beginning of parenting. We had yet to change a diaper, make a bottle or pull an all-nighter without a team of nurses and doctors available to walk us through it. My mother insisted that the nerves I was feeling were normal for a new parent, but I was unaccustomed to feeling so out of my element. And without any new leads on Theo, I was going to have to master fatherhood under my father's roof.

Watching my father arrange security for my daughter made me realize how lucky I had been that my mother had kept me out of his life while I was growing up. Even as I was driving my new family home from the hospital, there was a car right behind us being driven by none other than Jason Morgan. That was not how I had imagined that moment to be. I was glad to have his assistance in keeping Gabriella safe, but since the moment she was born, there was always someone there guarding her. I was starting to feel smothered, and I could only imagine how Lulu felt. She had been dealing with guards throughout the entire pregnancy.

"It's strange having her out in the open like this without an incubator around her," Lulu commented with a yawn. "Is it horrible that this whole parenthood thing is just starting to hit me now? I have been so in love with her all this time, but it seems bizarre to me that we're in charge of this little person now."

"Are you intimidated, Lulu Spencer?" I questioned with a chuckle. "I never thought I would see the day…"

"As if you're not," she quipped.

"No, I own up to my incompetence. It took Lucky an hour to teach me how to put that car seat in the car. Poor guy is probably off somewhere hiring a team of nannies to help me figure this out."

I pulled into Sonny's driveway and heard a small groan coming from the backseat. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I realized that Lulu was slouched in the seat like a suspect who had just been arrested. "You alright?" 

"Do we have to go inside?" she sighed. "I should have let you drive slower. I am not mentally prepared for this."

"Hey, at least Gabi is sleeping. We'll take her inside and get a nap before we have to deal with Brenda and Sonny."

As soon as the words came out of my mouth and I put the car in park, our daughter started crying, as if she knew where we were and hated it as much as her parents did. Lulu leaned over her car seat and tried to soothe her, but the cries only got louder.

"What do I do?" Lulu asked me nervously. Her faith in me was surprising, because I had no idea how to stop Gabriella's crying. "Should we drive around more?"

"We're parked in," I reported, looking back at Jason's now vacated car. "We'll just take her inside and figure it out."

I got out of the car and opened the door to get Gabi out of the car when Jason approached. He didn't say anything, but the look on his face demonstrated that he knew we were in over our heads. I had to ignore him, so turned my attention back to Lulu and Gabriella. I said a silent prayer that she would successfully remove the car seat without undoing all of my hard work from earlier that day.

"Can you please take the diaper bag inside and make her a bottle?" Lulu requested as she struggled with the seat.

I obliged and followed Jason inside, diaper bag in tow. When he opened the door, a huge banner reading 'Welcome Home Gabriella' greeted us. Underneath stood my father, Brenda and all of my siblings. "Surprise!"

"Where's the baby?" Morgan questioned.

"Lulu is bringing her in momentarily," I answered, hoping that the surprise party would not overwhelm her anymore than it did me. "She's a little fussy."

"There's an understatement..." Jason mumbled.

"Oh, well I should go out and help Lulu," Brenda offered, stepping forward.

While I knew that Brenda helping out was only going to aggravate Lulu, I didn't want to have everybody in the family to see just how unsure we were with our daughter. I let Brenda go outside and set the diaper bag down to locate the formula.

"How can I help?" Kristina asked.

"Are you an experienced bottle maker?" I questioned.

"Definitely," she replied quickly, grabbing the diaper bag out of my hands and bringing it straight to the kitchen.

"How are you holding up?" Michael questioned as the rest of the group headed into the living room for what appeared to be an extravagant surprise party. "I know this is not how you pictured bringing her home."

"No it's not, but I have to make sacrifices to keep my family safe," I answered robotically. It was my new mantra. Most of the people in our lives were vocal in the opposition to our post-hospital living arrangements. Lulu and I were not any happier about it than they were, but we didn't see any other option.

"It's only temporary. We are getting closer to finding the Balkan. I can feel it," Michael reassured as the front door opened and Brenda flew in with Gabriella in her arms. Lulu trailed behind with the empty car seat in her hands and irritation on her face. Our daughter was still exercising her vocal chords with enthusiasm.

"Kristina is making a bottle. She really wanted to help," Michael explained. I appreciated my brother's attempt to stand up for me, but I knew that Lulu's irritation was not with me. The worst part about living in my father's house was going to be Lulu's annoyance with Brenda.

"I'll take her to the kitchen and get that bottle," I offered, reaching for my daughter from Brenda. Before I could get her, Lulu intercepted the infant.

"No, Dante, I'll do it," she sighed before carrying Gabriella out of the hallway. I realized that maybe she was irritated with me.

"Trouble in paradise?" Brenda remarked.

Up until that point, I had tried to give my father's wife the benefit of the doubt, but at that moment, I was seeing why Lulu was so annoyed with her. Instead of giving her an answer, I shook my head and followed Michael into the living room.

_**Lulu's POV**_

While I was incredibly grateful to Kristina for making a bottle for Gabriella, I was even more excited when she decided to leave me in the kitchen alone with my daughter for the feeding. I didn't want to be annoyed with Dante and his family, but I was so overwhelmed. I had hoped to come home with Gabriella and having a little time to pretend that everything was okay. But now, we were thrown into a Corinthos family gathering. When my phone started vibrating in my pocket, I was reminded of the other reason for all of my anxiety.

I struggled to maneuver my hands so that I could reach for the phone and set it on the table. But in that process, the bottle slipped, causing Gabriella's calm to be shattered. She started to cry again, and I found it much more important to soothe her than retrieve my phone off of the floor. I was impressed with my ability to quiet the baby in a few moments, but not quickly enough. I heard somebody walking towards the kitchen and groaned. Apparently everybody knew that I was incapable as a mother.

"We're fine!" I called. "No need to check on us."

"It's just me," Abby announced as she entered the kitchen. "And I'll leave if you want me to, but I thought you could use a friendly face."

"Thanks," I grinned, feeling my frustration subsiding for a moment. "Are they all out there consoling Dante that he's stuck raising a baby with someone as inept as me?"

"You're doing great," she encouraged. "And it looks like Gabi is too."

"Olivia keeps telling us all about how babies are perceptive, how they can feel our stress," I argued. "So she's probably going to grow up a mess because the first month of her life has been nothing but drama."

Before Abby could come up with an appropriate lie to appease me, my phone started buzzing against the floor again. I had been successfully concealing the constant text messages, e-mails and phone calls from Dillon. While he had not come back to visit me in person since our last encounter in the hospital, he found a way to interrupt every moment of my day.

At first, his messages were short. He'd send short notes about how he missed me or asking about Gabriella. But as time passed and I refused to answer, he started to send longer correspondences full of promises for the future. What I thought was a crush was becoming a full-fledged delusion. So when Abby reached down to the ground and picked up my phone, my breath caught in my throat.

I watched in silence as she read the latest message. I definitely would have prevented Dante or Lucky from reading them to spare the waste of time going after Dillon would cause, but part of me wanted Abby to be involved. I needed somebody to help me figure out how to get Dillon to back off.

"How many unread messages are on there?" I asked in a whisper.

"More than I get in a day," she answered. "Mind telling me what all of this is about?"

I finished feeding Gabriella, filling Abby in on every interaction Dillon and I had in the past months and rocking my daughter to sleep in the next forty minutes. Abby was fairly silent through the entire explanation. She did not seem the least bit surprised, which shocked me. With all of the chaos surrounding Theo Hoffman, I didn't think that anybody would have noticed Dillon's crush on me.

"Why am I getting the feeling that you are already aware of everything I've been telling you?" I asked after I completed my rendition of the events.

"To be honest," she started, reaching forward to take Gabriella from my arms, "It wasn't hard to figure out that Dillon is in love with you. I just didn't realize he had been so up front with you about it."

"I've been trying to let him down easily, but he won't hear it. And the baby just compounds it. He sees Gabriella as a second chance for us to raise a child together."

Abby took a deep breath before she continued. I could tell that she was trying to phrase her next question carefully.

"Do you think it's merely a coincidence that Dillon is back in Port Charles trying to make a family with you at the same time that you had Dante's baby? Not to mention the fact that Theo Hoffman is out to hurt Sonny in the worst way possible."

"You think Dillon is working with Theo Hoffman? No, that's not possible…"

"Think about it, Lulu. The night you went into labor, who was holding us hostage? None other than Dillon's crew from his so-called documentary. Who's to say that Dillon hasn't been giving Theo all of the information he needs to get close to you and the baby on a silver platter this entire time?"

I did not want to accuse Dillon of terrorizing me, even if his come-ons were borderline harassment. He had always been good to me. But everything that Abby was saying made sense. There was too much there to be considered a coincidence.

"If Dillon is involved, it has to be blindly. He would never do anything to intentionally hurt me or my family."

"Even so, don't you think it's worth telling Michael and Dante everything you just told me? We should let them look into it."

"Absolutely not!" I argued, my voice rising a little higher than I had intended. "Dante is driving himself crazy with worry about money and keeping me and Gabi safe. He already doesn't trust Dillon, but if we tell him that there's a chance he's connected to Theo, he'll kill him. Michael has the same temper, and you know it."

"So what exactly are we supposed to do about it? We can't just let this continue."

I leaned down to kiss my daughter's forehead before picking up my phone.

"I have a plan to make all of this go away. I just need your help."


	13. Chapter 13

_**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**_

_**Lulu's POV**_

"Are you sure that you can't see the wire under my sweater?"

I turned around, studying myself in the mirror. All of this had been my plan, but I was beginning to see Abby's point of view. This could all blow up in my face, and if that happened, I could lose everything.

"Not at all," Abby answered, handing me a light jacket. "Just keep this on in case. Johnny and I will be in the van right outside of the Quartermaine estate. If we hear anything going wrong or if you give us the signal, we'll be in there within three minutes."

When I first told Abby about my plan to use my relationship with Tracy to get access to Dillon's things, she insisted that we not do this alone. We agreed, however, that bringing Michael or Dante into it would risk getting them both into more trouble with the police. Michael could not risk going back to Pentonville, and Dante needed to stay off of Mac's radar for the time being so that he could get his job back.

Johnny was our best option for a partner in this project. He was not close to Dante or Sonny, so asking him to keep it a secret was not going to be asking too much. Beyond that, Johnny had promised to help me whenever I needed it, and at this moment, I could not think of any situation in which I would need more help.

"Nothing is going to go wrong," I affirmed, desperate to convince myself. "Dillon is filming with Maxie all day, so it should be easy enough just to sneak into his room, take a look at his computer and get out. All I need is some proof that he is working with Theo to bring to Mac. Then they'll give Dante his badge back, arrest Dillon and find Theo. All of this insanity will be behind us."

"But what if Dillon shows up and catches you snooping through his stuff?" Abby pushed.

"Well, he says he's in love with me, right? I'll just have to use that to keep him on my side."

_**Dante's POV**_

"Come on, Gabi, just a little burp for Daddy," I coaxed as I patted my daughter's back. "Then we can go downstairs and catch the end of the Yankee game. It's the Subway Series. Yankees/Mets… the only thing more exciting than that is when we play the Red Sox."

"Don't worry, kiddo," Michael interrupted as he entered the room. "There are like five whole months of the year that your dad won't be obsessed with baseball."

"Don't listen to him," I instructed, pleased when she finally burped. "There are plenty of deals made during free agency that we never have to forget about the Yankees."

"I knew that you were going to start her young with baseball, but I thought you would at least wait until she was old enough to sit up by herself," Michael laughed.

"Nah, it's never too early," I smiled at him and settled Gabriella into my arms. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Abby were house hunting today."

"Yeah, so did I," he groaned, following me out of the nursery and downstairs. "But she said something came up for work. So I thought I could come over and bribe Lulu into taking her place." 

"Lulu left for work a few hours ago," I explained, taking a seat on the couch with my daughter. I thought back to Lulu's explanation for going back to work when she still had a few weeks left of maternity leave. "Actually, she said she was going in so that Abby could have the day off."

"So the fact that I just stopped by their office and neither of them is there means…"

I groaned, frustrated that I hadn't seen it for myself earlier. "They're up to something."

_**Lulu's POV**_

"Your father isn't here, Lulu," Tracy sighed when she entered the living room where Alice had instructed me to wait for her. "In fact, I have no idea where he is and, at the moment, I can't say that I care."

"That's not why I'm here," I explained with a yawn. "I actually came here to see you."

"How thrilled am I to have you here so alert," she replied with sarcasm.

"I'm a new mother," I defended, realizing the yawn could have been the biggest blessing I had been given all day. "Sleep isn't exactly easy, especially because we're stuck in Sonny's house. Everytime I think I could take a nap, Brenda gives me this look like it somehow makes me a terrible, lazy person for needing extra sleep. Look, I know this is probably incredibly rude, but I was just wondering if my old room was open for a few hours so that I could get some decent rest."

"You came all the way over here for a nap?" Tracy questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, this place used to be my home. These days, I don't really feel like home anywhere. I won't get in anybody's way," I begged, "Please, please, please?"

"Fine, of course," she gave in. "You know where your old room is. I have to run to ELQ, and Daddy took Cook and Alice to the country club for the day, so just let yourself out when you're well rested."

"Thank you!" I threw my arms around her in relief. My display of gratitude was probably overkill considering all she thought she was giving me was a bed for a few hours. But the reality of what I was getting – a chance to end the nightmare my family was going through – that was worth more than Tracy could imagine.

**Dante's POV**

"I've called Abby's cell fourteen times," Michael reported, "She won't answer."

"Lulu's phone goes straight to voicemail," I told him. I knew that there was a possibility that they were just taking a few hours to themselves to escape the tension that had surrounded all of us over the past year. But after the car crash and the fire, I was not about to take another risk with their lives. "Brenda is on her way home. She said she'll watch Gabi so we can go find them."

"Where do we even start looking?" he questioned. "If they are up to something, what would it be? Do you think they are looking to find Theo?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. Lulu's been miserable lately. She doesn't think I see it, but I do. She practically tiptoes around here. Every time her phone rings, she looks like she is going to jump out of her skin. She hates living here; she doesn't talk to me about any of it. It makes sense that she's trying to take the situation into her own hands."

"And Abby would be the first person to go with her. Damn it! If they find him, Theo is not going to have any problem taking advantage of the situation."

"Which means that we have to get to them before they get to him."

**Lulu's POV**

I waited until I heard Tracy leave the house to sneak across the hall into Dillon's room. Once the door was closed and I checked every crevice to make sure I was really alone, I spoke softly so that Abby and Johnny could hear me through the wire I was wearing.

"I'm in… now I just have to find his computer."

It didn't take long to locate a briefcase under the bed. I pulled it out and opened it to find a laptop and a digital camera. Knowing that my time was limited, I shoved the camera into my jacket pocket and turned on the computer.

"Damn it… I need a password," I whispered, beginning my attempts to guess it. I tried Dillon's birthday, along with his mother's, Georgie's and, much to my disgust, my own. None of them worked. Seconds felt like hours while I typed furiously, desperate to get just one piece of information.

"You're going to have to give me some motivation to tell you all my secrets."

The sound of Dillon's voice behind me sent shivers down my spine. I closed my eyes and exhaled, knowing that I would need to compose myself before he figured out that I was suspicious of him.

"Don't get me wrong," he continued, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "It's a great surprise to find you here in my bedroom. And here I was questioning whether or not you would ever return my affections."

"I was trying to leave you a message," I covered, setting the laptop down, but refusing to stand up and face him. The lie that was about to come out of my mouth made me nauseous. "This seemed like the only way to do it so that nobody else could find it."

"Lucky for you, nothing we choose to do in here will get back to Dante."

The way Dante's name sounded coming off of his lips told me that Dillon was not only jealous of my boyfriend; he hated him. I felt his hand on my shoulder and choked back the bile in my throat. "I don't have much time. I have to get back to Gabriella."

"Okay, we can rush this time," he whispered, brushing my hair away from one side of my neck and moving his lips towards my skin. "And maybe next time you can bring her so that we won't have to hurry. There's a full nursery across the hall."

**Dante's POV**

"Just get the GPS location off the phone, ok!" I yelled into my cell phone. "As soon as you have anything, call me!"

I tossed the phone into my lap and looked to my brother next to me as he drove us to the Metro Court. Without any other ideas, we thought we would start there and see if Lulu and Abby had been in to work at all that day. I had been trained to look at situations clearly and not make assumptions. But with the terrifying thoughts that were running through my mind, all I could do was panic.

"Maybe we should call Dad," Michael suggested. "He could get some guys on it…"

"Whatever it takes," I agreed. "We need to find Lulu and Abby before something happens that cannot be taken back."

**Lulu's POV**

_Just stay calm… you have to do this for your family._

I gave myself the mental pep talk over and over. I knew that giving Dillon what he wanted was so wrong, but I could not see any other way to put an end to the madness that had become my life. I was not going to sleep with him. I just had to let him kiss me for a few minutes – just enough to convince him that I could be trusted. Then I could get the evidence I needed to track down the Balkan.

The feeling of his lips against mine was torturous, but I forced myself to endure it. However, the moment I felt his fingers unbuttoning my pants, I snapped, pulling away from him and slapping him hard across the face.

"What the hell!" he yelled.

"I can't…" I whispered, desperately trying to catch my breath while my heart raced.

"Of course you can," Dillon insisted, coming at me forcefully and trapping me between his body and the wall. He grabbed my waist and pressed himself against me. "If you won't let yourself have what you really want, I'll make sure you get it."

Before I could argue, his hands dipped underneath my sweater and hit the cord from the wire I was wearing.

"I really wish you wouldn't have done this…" he whispered, pulling the wire hard and disconnecting the device.

**Dante's POV**

"Are you sure your friend is right?" Michael questioned as we pulled onto the Quartermaines' street. "Abby has no business going to the Quartermaine estate."

"GPS doesn't lie," I told him. "So unless her phone was stolen – "

I was interrupted by Michael's cell phone ringing. I grabbed it from the cup holder between us and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Abby's name on the caller ID. Without hesitation, I answered the call for him.

"Abby, where are you? Please tell me Lulu is with you…"

"Dante? How soon can you get to the Quartermaine mansion?" she asked. I could hear the terror in her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Just get here fast."

**Lulu's POV**

"Lulu, you need to look at me… I need to know that you are hearing what I am saying…"

"Dante is on his way," Abby reported to Johnny as she returned to the room. "Are you sure I shouldn't call 911?"

"Not yet," Johnny answered, not removing his gaze from me once. "Lulu, Dante is coming. Before he gets here, I need you to pull yourself together. Do you hear what I'm saying?"

I felt as if I had just come out of a deep sleep. I had to blink several times just to see Johnny's face clearly. I looked down at my sweater, which was torn down the front. I moved my hands to pull it closed, and that's when I saw the blood.

"I don't… I didn't…" I gasped, unable to get the words out of my mouth.

"Abby!" Michael's voice yelled from downstairs.

"We're up here!" she replied, moving toward the door.

I didn't want to look at the blood on my hands, but I couldn't pull my eyes away. Maybe I was too scared to see where the blood had come from, or maybe I was just frozen. My vision went in and out of focus while I tried to wrap my brain around what was going on. I had absolutely no recollection of what had happened after Dillon found the wire under my sweater.

**Dante's POV**

Michael and I sprinted up the stairs, following Abby's voice. None of what was happening made sense. However, I was not about to stop moving to figure it out. Abby sounded terrified on the phone, and she would not have called for help unless something really bad happened.

When we reached our destination, Abby met us in the hallway. She was paler than I had ever seen her, and my brother's face mirrored hers when he pulled her into his arms.

"What's going on?" he questioned, pulling back from her and examining for any sign of injury. "Are you alright?"

"Before you go in there, you have to know that we thought we had everything under control," she explained. "We were just trying to figure out what he knew. We didn't want anything bad to happen."

Tired of the horrific scenes running through my brain, I pushed past Michael and Abby to enter the bedroom. When I stepped inside, my eyes immediately landed on Lulu, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands covered in blood with Johnny kneeling in front of her. Just past them, I saw Dillon lying face down on the floor with blood seeping from his head.

"Oh God," I muttered. "Is he alive?"


End file.
